


Love Sealed With A Kunai

by MinzeySparkleIsPerfect8



Category: Naruto
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Crush at First Sight, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Female Uchiha Sasuke, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Naruto has a crush on Sasuke, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Socially Awkward Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2018-12-10 05:26:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 53,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11684997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinzeySparkleIsPerfect8/pseuds/MinzeySparkleIsPerfect8
Summary: Fugaku Uchiha told every one that his wife gave birth to their second child; that Itachi had a younger brother; that Sasuke was a boy... he lied...As Sasuke grew older, she kept her gender a secret and to everyone, she came off as a boy. It was annoying for nearly all the girls to have a crush on 'him' but she has to deal with the fact of nobody knowing her secret....Until a certain blonde came into the picture.With Naruto knowing the truth, Sasuke is exposed to new things that never even crossed her mind, such as growing love.





	1. The Awkward Start of Trust

Fugaku Uchiha told every one that his wife gave birth to their second child; that Itachi had a younger brother; that Sasuke was a boy... he lied...

 

Sasuke was a happy girl as she grew older but what hurt her the most was that her father neglected her, barely even talking to her but it changed when she turned 2 years of age. Mikoto cut her growing hair short and gave her Itachi's old clothes when he was younger; it was like Sasuke was a boy from the beginning, to everyone else in Konoha, she _was_ a boy from the beginning. Fugaku treated Sasuke right, like a father would to his childrenbut despite everything, he knew Sasuke would never be a boy and he continued to avoid his child. Itachi was aware of all of that.

 

Sasuke was close with her older brother, Itachi, he loved and cared for her all the time. He was the only one, other than their parents, who knew of her gender, she and him were inseperable, _were_...

 

The massacre of the Uchiha Clan left everyone who resided in the clan dead, all except Sasuke. She was terrified but she later found out that Itachi was the one who drenched the clan in blood... She in so much shock that she couldn't even react when Itachi left her in a genjutsu that seemed neverending and it had the deaths of every member of their- no, _her_ family replaying in her head...

 

Over and over and over and over and over again.

 

Waking up in the hospital with no other survivors left her in so much trauma and despair. No one could ever relate to the pain she would soon feel for the future years.

 

* * *

 

It was only a few years but Sasuke had graduated from the academy with her true gender hidden. Despite her young age, she knew that the Uchiha Clan would need to be rebuilt with someone of Uchiha blood but coming out as a girl now would mean becoming a living baby maker during her own childhood and that would be a living nightmare, getting pregnant repeatedly and having to go through so much pain. She could vaguely remember a conversation her mom had with a red haired friend of hers when she was a baby, but she was never seen again. Despite Sasuke being young at that time, she hated pain and she wasn't going to be mother anytime soon so she remained a boy.

 

It was a bit bothersome pretending to be a boy. It were the things that boys would normally do such putting mud in their mouths and hitting each other with sticks. There were a couple of boys that didn't do that, Shino and Shikamaru were normal in her eyes so they were on good terms with each other. Iruka even joked that they were The 'S' Trio because their names began with an 's' but all of them could feel their brain cells deteriorating from just hearing the name.

 

Some boys were so active and at one point, they ended up looking down each others pants to see who was more 'manley'. Since Sasuke was at that age where a child would be a bit curious about the differences of the body she used to ask Itachi about it as she was always to shy to ask adults.

 

But it wasn't the boys that bothered her, it was the fact that nearly every girl in class had a crush on her for her talents and that made her a target for jealous boys that could never score a punch on her. Despite wanting to protest so desperately, Sasuke remained silent and kept to herself as she didn't want to socialise and give people the chance of finding out her secret. Most of the boys were more than envious that 'he' got all the girls attention, the one boy taking the cake for being the most obnoxious was Naruto Uzumaki. He impressed her with how hard he worked because of her, secretly making her smirk at his dumb antics whenever no one was looking.

 

The blonde always got up in the Raven's face, today was no exception as Naruto was surprisingly closer than usual before falling forward and his lips making contact with Sasuke's, snatching her first kiss. She blushed at the sudden contact, once pulling away, she made a face of disgust to hide how much the kiss made her feel a shock of electricity run down her spine.

 

It has certainly been a while since she felt some excitement like that.

 

Despite the accidental kiss, Sasuke tried to ignore everything else except Iruka telling them which team they would be on but her mind kept travelling back to that dumb kiss, it was nothing special!

 

She heard that Naruto and Sakura, one of the girls who had a crush on 'him', were going to be on the same team as she was. The raven almost groaned at her misfortune and spoke behind her hands in a uninterested tone to her new comrades, "don't get in my way."

 

 

After the lesson, Sasuke walked along the roof and went through a window.

 

She always went there to eat lunch as it always took her worries away with the wind. Just breathing the air from that window made her feel a small sense of relief, having no one to bother her and no goals in life seemed so nice. Just as she took a bite out of her riceball, she heard the window creaking. Usually, Sasuke would've sensed this but it left her confused when she realised someone was about to grab her. She quickly shifted her stance to defend herself and saw Naruto jumping straight at her.

 

Their bodies crashed against each other while Sasuke's back hit the wall, she gritted her teeth as she kicked Naruto's knee to make him lose his balance and she managed to push him of her and rapidly mount his torso. He growled as he threw his fist in the air as an attempt to punch her.

 

Quickly, she moved her head out the way and grabbed his wrist, turning him onto his stomach and painfully holding his arm to his back. She reached out for the rope that layed in a corner of the room, managed to tie up the blonde and gag him, it was convienient that the window snapped shut, leaving the duo in the dark.

 

 _'What was he trying to do?'_ she thought, becoming fully aware that the Naruto before her was a fake, replaced with a log. Her eyes widened when she heard his familiar cry, she looked up and saw he was now using Shadow Clones, nearly fifteen of them. She started panicking the moment arms pulled her to the floor and held her all over her legs and chest, Sasuke felt her small breasts being pushed as Naruto's hands started tying her up with the same rope she used on him.

 

She then felt a small squeeze and Sasuke pulled her head back in shock and retaliation and gave a small yelp that sounded way too feminine for her sake. She shakingly looked back up at Naruto and saw the surprised look in his eyes, the cold sweat ran down her back as the clones disappeared and left her and the real Naruto in an awkward position: Naruto's hands on her breasts while _he_ was on her torso,  _'he'll find out...'_

 

Sasuke was indeed wearing chest binders in the form of bandages to make it a lot harder for people to figure she was a girl after starting to grow her breasts at the age of seven, just before her clan died, but other than Itachi, no one knew or could help her to tie it so it did remain a bit loose.

 

She never thought that this is how she would be caught in such a pathetic way. It was down right foolish and moronic that someone this dumb would be right on top of her with the proof literally in his hands unable to figure out that she was a girl, Sasuke almost prayed for that outcome but alas, fate had other ideas.

 

"...y-you're... A girl?!" Naruto called out, making the Uchiha shush him.

"Shhhh! Will you keep it down?" She rhetorically asked as she slapped a hand over his mouth. Naruto made a few muffled yells before calming down and Sasuke removed her hand.

"Look... I'm confused about this whole thing, I thought you were a boy."

"It's... It's a bit of a long story..."

"Well, start explaining." He said while removing the ropes off her.

"I know how you forget things easily so listen closely because I don't want to repeat myself."

"I'm listening, just explain."

 

Sasuke took in a breath before speaking out her hidden past, not clearly thinking but wanting to talk some more. She nearly got emotional whenever she reached a part focusing on Itachi so she didn't say anything about him being the one who killed their entire clan, but other than that she didn't faze as she spoke through each second. She wasn't thinking ahead and most of it came out all shaky but Naruto could understand what she meant to her surprise.

 

"...I didn't want anyone finding out about the truth since that desire rubbed off my parents to me, I'm more used to being a boy." She finished, Naruto looked at her in concern.

"Man, your dad was awful! Neglecting his own kid? He should've been locked up for that. He was a bad parent." He scowled.

"I guess... I don't know what he was, but I miss him anyway. I just want things to go back to the way they were." Sasuke pulled her legs closer to her as Naruto placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"So, what are you going to do if someone else finds out?" The blonde asked, making Sasuke stay silent for a moment that felt like hours.

"I don't really know, I could at least try and convince them not to tell, and that goes for you too, Naruto." 

"Huh?"

"Please, you can't tell anyone else about this."

"Well, I can't really talk to anyone without them getting angry at me and I have no friends or family." 

 

Sasuke looked at Naruto with an understanding emotion on her face, this was the first time where she has talked to anyone about her past and how she felt and it really lifted a great weight off her chest.

"Also," Naruto got her attention, "what are those things covering your boobs? They don't look the same as one of those small shirts girls always wear" Sasuke got flustered before pushing Naruto away from her side.

"They're called 'binders', loser! Why should you care so much about that? Pervert."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'm sorry. And hey, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go get Sakura to love me!" The blonde inclined as he took Sasuke's appearance and casually walked out of the window.

 

The Uchiha felt a huge wave of relief passing over her, she still couldn't believe that Naruto found out her secret, much less keep it secret for her. Sasuke's appreciation for the boy increased, making a small smile appear, one that has no trace of cockiness or arrogance. _'He combined a Replacement jutsu with a full Shadow Clone jutsu, even when he couldn't do one clone properly in class. Impressive.'_  As she began to walk over to the window sill, she heard a clank of metal against her foot. She looked down at the floor and saw a kunai, it didn't belong to her. She picked it up and held it firmly before looking out the window to see if anyone was there and climbing out to find the blonde idiot.

 

She put on her best angry/neutrual face and walked around the school to look for him, passing Sakura. It did look strange when the pinkette stood up with a smile and said, "Sasuke, you're back! Don't be so shy, you bad boy."

"..." It took all of the Uchiha's willpower not to cringe right then and there, how obsessed was this girl?

"Are you ready now? You know, mentally, because I am, I mean I'm raring to go!" Sakura then noticed that Sasuke just walked past her, "H-hey, wait a minute!"

"...where's Naruto?" The raven asked after giving a small pause.

"Oh, see, there you go, changing the subject again, Anyway, Naruto just picks fights with you. You know why he's so annoying? Cause he wasn't raised right, he doesn't have a mother or a father, no one to teach him right from wrong." Sasuke froze at that comment, it felt like Sakura was mocking orphans for having no parents and being 'free' to do whatever they want. Scratch that, of course she was doing that.

 

Sasuke looked away from the girl, each word that came from her mouth was getting under her skin.

"Think about it, he just does whatever comes into his head." Sakura finished, triggering Sasuke. Now that went too far, "If I did things like Naruto, forget it! I mean, my parents would get mad and I'd be in trouble so of course, I don't do it. But if you don't have parents to tell you, how would you know?"

 

Sasuke's glare grew stronger, the oblivious Sakura didn't notice the glance the 'boy' was giving. All of her hatred was being thrown at the pinkette. If looks could kill, then she'd be dead by now.

 

"He's selfish and bratty, he's all alone."

"Alone. Isolated," Sasuke turned her gaze to the ground, how dare this girl insult a boy who is generous enough to keep her secret, "it's not about your parents scolding you, you have idea what it means to be alone."

"W-why are you saying that?" Sakura asked, frightened of the sudden aura she was feeling in the atmosphere.

"Because, you make me sick." She uttered with poison dripping from her words.

 

Sakura let out a gasp as Sasuke walked away with anger. This girl is supposed to be on her team but she can't even go without insulting Naruto, what a bitch.

 

Sasuke kept looking around for the boy, placing her hands in her pockets as Naruto came bursting out of the boy's toilets.

"Wahh!" The blonde quickly skidded to a stop to avoid knocking the girl over, "Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

"I came to return your kunai, you accidentally dropped it during our fight and/or conversation," Sasuke held out the kunai in her palm for Naruto to take.

"Wha... I lost a kunai?" Naruto checked his pockets and could confirm that the kunai in Sasuke's hand was indeed his.

"We not supposed to wear our shuriken holsters in the academy and you're already breaking the rules by carrying kunais."

"W-well yeah, who knows I might need to protect someone I care about, like you!" 

 

Both Naruto and Sasuke just realised what he just said and it made him blush and it left her confused. To avoid explaining about what he meant, Naruto reached out to take the kunai before the unsettling sensation in his stomach came back.

"Uughh! I gotta go!" The blonde yelled as he ran back to the bathroom.

"Wait! Your kunai!" Sasuke called out.

"Keep it! I can get more!"

 

With a neutral frown, Sasuke looked at the kunai in her hand and poked it's sharp end, she gave a smile. Even though Naruto is the loudest student in her class, she can trust him not to tell anyone as a lot of things go through Naruto's mind and it's easy for him to forget.

"...Just don't tell anyone, loser..." Sasuke muttered to herself as she put the kunai in her pocket and walked off.


	2. Would You Really Give Up A Kunai To Impress A Girl?

Sasuke sat at one of the desks as she, Naruto and Sakura waited for their new teacher. It did feel strange for her to be comfortable in the same room as the blonde but now that the two had their conversation earlier, she could feel her heart clenching and her stomach fluttering but she had no idea why. She rolled her eyes at his attempt of a prank.

 

"Our teacher's a jōnin, an elite ninja. Do you really think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke scoffed, there's no way that could happen.

"Yeah, Sasuke's right, you're so clueless, Naruto!" Sakura butted in, making the raven's irritation increase. This girl is one of the smartest in her class, if not, the smartest but she's currently acting like an unreliable mean girl so how in the world would Sasuke be able to trust this girl? She would've thrown her newly achieved kunai until she saw a hand appearing from the outside of the door.

 

The door opened and the rubber landed on the silver hair of the jōnin . After a pause, Naruto started laughing.

"I got him! He totally fell for it!"

"I'm sorry, sensei, I told him not to do it but he wouldn't listen, I would never do something like that." Sakura said nervously with an unnatural amount of faking in her voice.

 

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in disbelief, _'he fell for Naruto's cheap trick, is he really as skilled as they say?'_

 

"Hmm, what can I say? My first impression of this group: you're a bunch of idiots." The jōnin spoke clearly with a mask covering his mouth and nose while his forehead protector covered his left eye, "forgive me for arriving so late, I had to help an old lady with her bags."

 _'An old lady wouldn't take two hours to carry some bags, is that really the best excuse he could come up with?'_ Sasuke thought.

"Come on, let's go to the roof. I wouldn't want you to stay cramped in here." He spoke as if he didn't arrive late at all, he ignored any comments from Sakura and Naruto as they started walking. He did notice Sasuke's quietness but he didn't ask anything about it.

 

They reached the roof and sat down on places where they considered it most comfortable, Sakura sat on Sasuke's right and Naruto on her left.

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves? One at a time." The silver haired adult spoke, it was amazing how he could speak so clearly with that mask on his mouth.

"Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?" Sakura asked.

"Things you like and things you hate; dreams for the future; hobbies, things like that."

"Why don't you tell us stuff first? I mean, before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work." Naruto suggested, he was actually a bit clever without knowing it so his suggestion was clever.

"Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake," He introduced himself, "things I like and things I hate, I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future... never really thought about that and my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies."

"That was totally useless, all he really told us was his name." Sakura muttered as Naruto agreed with her.

"Okay, your turn. You on the right, you first." Kakashi inclined to Naruto.

 

"Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like Instant Ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me..." Naruto started going on about his ramen addiction, making Sasuke smile underneath her hands before quickly realising what she was doing, she was certainly paying more attention to the orange clad ninja, "...and my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage, then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"

 

Sasuke could just keep on smiling at Naruto's determination, she was amazed at how nothing really pulled him down, not even when he failed at the academy before coming back again as a ninja.

 

"Alright, next." 

"I'm Sakura Haruno, what I like... uhh... I mean the person I like is..." Sakura started blowing her chances of making a good impression for Kakashi to start fangirling about Sasuke,  _'Doesn't she have anything better to do?'_ , "...my dream for the future is..." Was that a squeal?!

"And, what do you hate?" 

"NARUTO!"

 

Sasuke glared at Sakura from the corner of her eye before looking back at Naruto in sympathy and hiding her emotions as fast as she could, the pinkette absolutely had no right to be treating Naruto the way she did.

 

"Last one."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I hate a lot of things, especially fan girls," she referred to Sakura but it was obvious that she couldn't care less, "and I... I like a few certain things, what I have is not a dream because I _will_ make it a reality, I am going to restore my clan and destroy a certain...someone..."

 

Nobody said a word after that, not even Naruto. But Sasuke didn't really care, she wanted to get revenge on Itachi and restore her clan but that wasn't going to be for a while. After a small pause, Kakashi spoke up.

 

"Good. You're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"What mission are we going to have?" Naruto asked.

"It's a task that the four of us will do together."

"What? What? What? What?"

"A survival exercise."

"Huh? Survival exercise?"

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practise," Sakura complained, "we already did this stuff at the academy, that's how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training."

 

"So, uhh, so, uhh, what kinda training is it?" Naruto asked once again, making Kakashi chuckle.

"Hey, that's a normal question. What's so funny?" Sakura interrogated but she didn't really have much of an upper hand.

"Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it." The jōnin answered, something about his hidden smile didn't really make Sasuke like him. "Of the 27 graduates who just came here, only 9 will be accepted as genin. The other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy, in other words, this is a make-it-or-break-it pass/fail test and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%. See, didn't I tell you you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy, we worked hard to get here. Believe it, what was that gradiation test for anyway?" Naruto got riled up.

"Oh that, that was just to select canidates who might become genin...or not."

"Whaaat?"

"That's how it is, I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5 AM, and bring your ninja gear," Sasuke could tell he wasn't finished just yet, "that's it, you're dismissed. Oh, tomorrow, you better skip breakfast or else you'll puke."

 

* * *

 

Sasuke had buried that information in her head as she walked over to her current place of residence, she was capable of taking care of herself but she wished that she could talk to someone like Naruto earlier.

 

Speaking of the blonde, Sasuke turned looked around to see Naruto at Ramen Ichiraku from a distance. She started walking over without realising it, right now, Naruto was busy chowing down on a bowl of ramen.

"Hey Sasuke! Would you like a bowl?" Teuchi asked, alerting Naruto about the person behind him.

"No, thanks. I just came to see Naruto-" Naruto started choking on his food, coughing violenty.

"S-sasuke! What are you doing here?"

"I said I came to see you, loser." Sasuke repeated again.

"W-why?"

"...I don't know, I just felt like it." Naruto quickly finished his bowl and paid quickly before awkwardly fidgeting next to Sasuke as they walked.

 

Neither of the two could think of what to say to each other.

 

"So... uhh... Sasuke, I-I... I'm sorry 'bout earlier, you know, attacking you and accidentally... touching you..."

"I get it, it's alright though... today has just been... relieving. I can finally talk to someone who knows, I can't remember a time when I was this talkative."

"Well, you're the first guy... or girl... I don't know how to call you anymore." Naruto admitted embarrassedly.

"Just address me as a guy, it won't give away anything about me."

"Right. What I was saying is that you're the first guy who I consider my friend, other than Iruka-sensei."

"Really?"

"Yeah, believe it."

"I thought you were friends with some other people."

"Oh yeah? Like who?"

"Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, those people."

"Huh... I never really thought of that."

 

Naruto and Sasuke reached the apartment Naruto resides in, she was surprised at the fact that Naruto could also take care of himself like she does.

"You wanna come in?" Naruto suggested, Sasuke smirked as she followed him.

"Sure, just for a while, it'd be better to talk in private."

 

Naruto opened the door to his apartment and let Sasuke go in first before going in and shutting the door, the raven analysed everything from the walls to the table.

"Whoa..." She muttered out, she did expect something more... exciting to fit with Naruto's personality.

"I know, it's lame. But soon, I'll be living in luxury once I'm Hokage. Believe it." Naruto vowed, making Sasuke give a small chuckle. It was barely audiable so Naruto glanced at her in offence, "what? Did I say something funny?"

"No, it's just that I see that as... A little impossible for a loser like you." Sasuke smirked, succeeding in getting under Naruto's skin.

"Grr... Well don't treat it like a joke. I'm definitely gonna become Hokage and you're gonna see it happen before your eyes! Believe it!" Naruto insisted with his signature hand sign.

"Well, you're going to have to prove it to me," she then noticed the table with the empty bowl and carton of milk. She walked over to it and picked it up, "Naruto, you do know that milk is supposed to stay cold so it won't go bad, right?"

"Huh? Uhh, yeah I knew that, I just slept in today so I had no time to put it back where it belonged," Sasuke shook her head at Naruto's excuse and looked at the carton before noticing it's expiration date, she made a face and Naruto noticed it, "what?"

"Naruto, how long have you had this milk for?" 

"About a week, why?"

"It expired three weeks ago."

"What? So that's why I needed to go to the bathroom all day! That seller is in for it when I write a complaint!"

 

Sasuke then got reminded about Naruto's kunai.

"Here you go." She quickly pulled out his kunai from her pocket.

"Huh? Why?"

"Your mind is clear now and there are no distractions, I'm sure you'd like this back."

"No, I was serious. You keep it, you could consider it an apology for attacking you."

"...I'd consider it more of a reminder of today: you keeping my secret."

 

She looked at the kunai, gripping it tightly before looking at Naruto and giving a gentle smile. Their eyes locked, blue meeting with black, Naruto then pushed her hand closer to her chest and started rubbing his head.

"So, what are you going to do when you get...bigger?" Naruto referred to her chest and hips since that's what he's expecting when other girls start growing. Sasuke frowned and turned her head in annoyance, not saying a word to the blonde as a way to give him the answer, "r-right..."

 

After a few more seconds, Sasuke felt that she had nothing else to do in Naruto's house so she walked over to the door.

"H-hey! Where are you going?" Naruto asked.

"Home." The raven inclined

"But-"

"Again. Thank you for not telling anyone."

"Sure, no problem..."

"And throw that milk out."

"Oh right! See ya, Sasuke!"

 

Sasuke let the door close by itself and resumed her route back to her home. She repeatedly kept looking at the kunai and back at Naruto's place, occainsionally seeing him watching her before realising that he had been spotted by the girl. Sasuke smiled as she walked further away from his happy light and presumed her path in the dark.

 

The moment she reached her place, Sasuke went to her room and found a silky soft ribbon before wrapping it around the ring: it was to keep her reminded that this was Naruto's kunai and he gave it to her, the boy who kept her secret. 

 

She then held the kunai in front of her face, dangling it from the ribbon. Sasuke's black eyes followed each direction the weapon swung, giving a soft smile.

 

* * *

 

As Kakashi said, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto arrived at the designated training spot at 5 AM but there was no sign of their new teacher anywhere. Unlike Sasuke, who was wide awake, Naruto and Sakura were half asleep and still yawning.

 

The trio made no conversation as they waited for Kakashi, it took a while as both Sakura and Naruto sat down as they were bored.

 

"Morning everyone," Kakashi spoke as he appeared, not giving a care to the fact that he was late, "ready for your first day?"

"Hey, your late!" Sakura and Naruto stated the obvious but it seemed like the silver haired jōnin was smiling under that mask of his.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." Nobody seemed to believe that.

"..."

"Well," Kakashi started before giving a cough, "let's get started," he walked over to a tree stump and placed a timer on it, "here we go. It's set for noon," the jōnin then held up two bells, "your assignment is very simple, you just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch,"

"Ahh!" Naruto cried out in shock.

"You'll be tied up to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

 

 _'So that's why,'_ Sasuke thought as she remember Kakashi's instructions to not eat breakfast, it was supposed to make it harder for them.

"Wait a minute, there's three of us! How come there's only two bells?" Sakura asked.

"Well, that way, at least one of you will be tied up to the post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy; Then again, all three of you could flunk out. You can use any weapon, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."

"Those weapons are too dangerous, Sensei!" Sakura informed worriedly.

"Especially since you couldn't dodge that eraser." Naruto laughed, thinking that this test would be easy, which was quite the opposite.

"Class Clowns are usually the weakest links, you can safely ignore them. Lowest scores, losers," Kakashi ignored the growl Naruto was giving him after being offended, "when I say start, you can begin."

 

Sasuke then noticed Naruto pulling out a kunai, getting ready to attack the silver haired jōnin. The blonde ran and would've stabbed Kakashi if it wasn't for the sudden movements he did, putting Naruto's hand holding the kunai behind his neck. It would've been easy to kill him right then and there.

"Don't be in such a hurry, I didn't say 'start' yet." 

 

Naruto made a couple struggling noises as Sasuke and Sakura took a step back away from the jōnin.  _'So this is a jōnin.'_ The raven thought.

"But, you came at me with the full intention of destroying me so, how can I say this? I'm actually starting to like you guys," he looked around at the trio, "get ready. And start!"

 

The blonde, raven and pinkette dispersed in their own seperate ways, either crawling under bushes or climbing onto trees.

 

"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively." Kakashi spoke while turning his head around to look for his students.

 

Sasuke watched as Naruto got out from his hiding place and in front of Kakashi.

"You and me. Right now! Fair and square! Let's go!"

 

 _'Fool.'_ Sasuke thought, she was starting to like Naruto a lot more than she previously did but his stupidity was going to get him killed one day. She ignored the conversation and focused on their movements, fighting styles and tactics, as Kakashi mentioned Taijutsu, Sasuke could see him reaching for a weapon,  _'Taijutsu is hand to hand combat, why on earth is he reaching for a weapon?'_ Her questions were soon answered as she saw the jōnin holding a book.  _'Is that M-rated? What kind of jōnin is this guy?'_

 

Sasuke watched how Naruto tried attacking Kakashi, only to have his attacks dodged and the teacher getting behind him swiftly without any detection. She saw the jōnin's hand sign. _'That hand sign is for a Fire Jutsu. He's not just toying with Naruto, he's going to demolish him!'_

 

"Naruto! Get out of there! Quick! He's going to destroy you!" Sakura yelled.

"Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!" The jōnin yelled as he aimed his fingers directly at Naruto's butt, "One Thousand Years of Death!" That... didn't seem to be an actual technique because all Kakashi did was just poke him, Naruto was overreacting, propelling high in the sky before landing in the water.

"Those two are just two idiots." She muttered as she refered to Naruto and Sakura. The raven could feel herself getting worried as Naruto was immeadiatly coming out of the water. She reached for a weapon until two shuriken came out from the water, flying straight to Kakashi but he caught them with two fingers, both of them at the same time.

 

Sasuke then felt a wave of relief passing over her as she saw Naruto climbing onto the riverbed, he was absolutely drenched. The conversation he and Kakashi were having was over as soon as it started and Naruto's Shadow Clones came bursting from the water. The 7 Narutos came at Kakashi at the same time but it turns out that the jōnin wasn't aware to what was behind him though.

 

She felt her cheeks getting heated as she saw another one of Naruto's clones grab Kakashi from behind, the rest grabbed his legs while another jumped and got ready to attack the jōnin.  _'A diversionary attack. Nice.'_ She almost instantly regretted that thought as Naruto gave a punch to his clone, Kakashi used a replacement jutsu. Sasuke felt like laughing the moment Naruto and his clones started beating each other up.  _'He got you with a replacement jutsu. Loser. With this jutsu, you quickly switch your own body with an object so your enemy thinks he's attacking you when he's actually attacking a log or a rock, leaving him open to a counter attack. In this case, the jōnin let himself get caught, then switched bodies with one of the Naruto clones so Naruto thought he was really him but actually he was just attacking himself.'_ She thought, quickly looking around for Kakashi before looking back at Naruto,  _'And that jōnin was so smooth, he made Naruto look like a total moron.'_  

 

Sasuke then saw Naruto's eyes widen at the sight of a fallen bell, he grinned but Sasuke got suspicious. That was too easy, and Kakashi seems to be more than clever to let a bell go missing. However, Naruto didn't think that way and fell right into a trap, dangling by his feet.  _'Of course it was a trap. That jōnin doesn't let down his guard, even when he's fighting a fool like Naruto.'_  

 

Kakashi walked over to Naruto and picked up the bell before lecturing the blonde, Sasuke then noted that the jōnin just dropped his guard.  _'This is my chance.'_ She pulled out her kunais and shuriken, throwing them at Kakashi,  _'He finally dropped his guard!'_

 

"He just got blasted by shuriken! Are you out of your mind, Sasuke?! You went too far!" Naruto yelled in shock and horror as it seemed that she really just killed Kakashi. Her eyes widened when she saw that Kakashi had once again used a substitution jutsu.

 

 _'Another Substitution jutsu! Now he knows where I'm hiding, I got to move fast!'_ Before she jumped, she instinctively held out the kunai Naruto gave her, jumped to another branch and cut the rope that held him upside down, making him fall to the ground.

 

"WAH! Oof!" The blonde cried as he landed on his head.

"Watch your step, there's another one next to you!" Sasuke yelled as she continued her jumps. 'I _thought he lowered his guard but he did that on purpose, and I fell for it,'_ She kept jumping from branch to branch as she kept thinking about Kakashi's move and what she just did, _'I helped Naruto out of that trap, but why? I wasn't even thinking about it but I helped him anyway.'_

 

She then heard a loud scream, Sasuke landed on the ground and turned her head, _'That sounded like... Sakura?'_

"Shinobi Battle Skill Number 2: The illusion jutsu,"  Sasuke didn't flinch when she heard Kakashi's voice and the smalls bells ringing, "Sakura studied it in class but she still couldn't see it coming."

 

_'Genjutsu, it's just simple mind control. I'm not surprised he caught Sakura with it but...'_

 

"I'm not like Sakura and Naruto." She finished her thought outloud so her teacher could hear it clearly.

"Say that after you got one of these bells, _Sasuke-kun_." Kakashi said, mocking Sakura's voice as he immitated her.

 

The androgynous girl turned around to face Kakashi, a low atmosphere surrounding them. Their eyes locked before Sasuke made her move, throwing her kunais.

"There's no point using normal attacks!" He informed her until she threw another kunai, cutting a rope. 

 

More kunais were thrown at the jōnin, leaving his focus drawn to the sudden traps and not the attack Sasuke was using. She straightened her leg to give a more effective hit to Kakashi's head but he managed to grab her ankle, she threw a punch but even then, Kakashi caught that too. Sasuke threw another kick with her free leg but Kakashi evaded that attack as well and grabbed both of her ankles. She saw the bells, the raven smirked as she reached out to grab at least one of them, touching one until Kakashi quickly pulled away.

 

They both landed in stances as they regained their balance.

 

"Well, you are different from the other two, I'll grant you that." It was as if this jōnin was mocking her, _'_ _not for long'_ She thought as she made hand signs.  _'Horse, Tiger! Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!'_  

 

She blew a strong ball of fire straight from her mouth, the number one skill of the Uchiha Clan. Once the fire died down, Sasuke noted that Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.  _'Where did he go?! Behind me?_ Above?!'

"Where?" The voice came from beneath her as a hand grabbed her ankle, "I'm where you least expect me!"

"AGH!" She cried out as she was buried in the ground up to her shoulders.

"Right under your feet, Earth Style: Head Hunter jutsu." Kakashi spoke as he crouched down to face her eye to eye, Sasuke started struggling to get out from this new imprisonment. "Can't move, huh? That was Ninjutsu, the third Shinobi Battle Skill. You have talent, and you were right, you are different from the others but different isn't always better. They say the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down."

"Oh great(!)" Sasuke scowled as the silver haired jōnin started walking off while reading his book

 

Kakashi was out of sight and Sasuke could see that she entirely was trapped.  _'He's stronger than I am!'_ She heard the leaves rustling as Sakura came running out of the bushes, stopping the moment she saw Sasuke's head.

"Sakura?" She asked, not expecting the scream that came out of the pinkette's mouth.

"AAHHH! SASUKE'S JUST A HEAD WITHOUT A BODY AND HE'S TALKING!" The girl then fainted in shock while Sasuke looked at the fallen body with a face.

"And that's my partner." 

 

Seriously, why are most girls this dramatic? Sasuke regretted not being born the opposite gender as she did not want to be like Sakura. She made more attempts to get out from the ground, proving to be successful. She then leant over Sakura's body. The fact that Sakura fainted was only momentarily as she started coming back into consciousness.

"Sasuke," The pink haired girl then tightly hugged Sasuke, almost making the raven panic as Sakura could find out about her secret, "you're okay!"

"Hey! Cut it out! Let go! Let go!" Sasuke pushed Sakura away from her harshly, she stood up, "I've got to get a bell before lunch, that doesn't leave much time."

"Sasuke, your still trying to get those bells?" 

"A while ago, I touched one; next time, I'll get one."

"That is really great. I can't believe you that, you're amazing." Sasuke is no idiot, she could tell when someone was jealous, just look at all the times she and Naruto had a fight and find at least one where it wasn't Naruto who started it, "it's almost lunch, there's not really enough time left so maybe we should just give up and try again next year."

 

Sakura then swallowed her words as Sasuke gave her a terrifying glare. The raven couldn't just give up and she won't give up, she was going to kill Itachi, even if it was the last thing she did.

"I'm the only one...who can destroy that person..."

"What? Who? You mean the sensei?"

"...that day... I was crying..."

"When were you crying?"

"...It was my..."

"What? What happened to you?"

"I am an avenger. That means I must be stronger than my prey, I need this training. There's no time for setbacks..."

 

The two girls then heard Kakashi's timer go off, signalling that it was already lunchtime.

 

"Ugh! I wasted too much time!" Sasuke then walked off, not caring that Sakura was trailing behind. When they arrived, the first thing Sasuke saw was Naruto tied up to one of the posts.  _'Oh boy, Naruto, what did you do?'_ She sat on Naruto's right to avoid sitting next to Sakura, but she could hear both of their stomachs growling clearly, including her own.

"Uh oh, stomach's growling, huh, that's too bad," Kakashi said as if he wasn't the cause of their hunger, "Oh, by the way, about this training, I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy."

"Wah!" Naruto gave an excited noise.

"What? I passed? All I did was faint and fall over, do you get points for that?" Sakura asked before standing up and cheering.

Sasuke remained silent,  _'that would be too easy, something tells me we missed something.'_

"That- That means all three of us! I mean all three of us!" Naruto yelled despite being binded.

"Yes, all three of you... Are being dropped from the program. Permanently." Kakashi finished.

 

The silent was ominous but it didn't last long.

"Drop us from the program, that means we could never become ninja! You said if we couldn't take the bells, you'd send us back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that?!" Naruto protested.

"Because you don't think like ninja, you think like little kids. Like brats," Kakashi's insult managed to get under Sasuke's skin and she got up and ran with the intention of hitting her teacher, she ignored Sakura's cry as she was pulled and held against the ground, "you think it's all about you."

"Let go of Sasuke! You can't step on him like he's some bug!" The pinkette yelled.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja, you think it's a game." Now, Sasuke could give him that, Kakashi seemed to be right about both Naruto and Sakura but she didn't know about herself, "Why did we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?"

"I-I don't know what you mean." Sasuke was almost getting the answer.

"I mean, you have never realised what this exercise is all about, not even close." Kakashi inclined.

"What it's about?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. That's what determines whether you pass or fail."

"But that's... I mean I wanted to ask you about that from the beginning." Sakura said nervously.

"Tch, use your head. Three people on a squad, why do you think we would do that?" Wait, she could see it now; she had forgotten all about teamwork.

"Argh! How are we supposed to know why you picked three people? We didn't make the rules!" Naruto yelled.

 

"It's so basic. Teamwork!" Kakashi said.

"Just working together? That's what you mean?" Sakura obviously asked, as if she could get any more stupider.

"That's what I mean, it's too late now but if all three of you had come at me, you might have been able to take them. Well, anyway, it's over."

"You set it up with three people but only two bells, if we worked together and got the bells, only two of us could keep them. That would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up!" Sakura stated.

"Exactly. I purposefully pitted you against each other. I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork but you... It never even crossed your mind," Kakashi was right, about all of them. Sasuke's thought of helping Naruto didn't even occur to her but she did it anyway, "Sakura, you obsessed about Sasuke, who was gone, while Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn't lift a finger to help him. Naruto, you do everything on your own, _everything_. And you, Sasuke," the jōnin pushed his foot harder onto Sasuke's head, "you thought the others were far beneath you, they were worthless. Although,"

 

Sasuke tried turning her head so at least one eye could look at Kakashi.

"You did help Naruto from the trap I set, both of them, I would let you pass but then again, neither of you tried to help the other to get a bell. Ninja missions are carried ut in squads, of course you need individual skills but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this, when individuals put themselves above the squad, this leads to failure, and death. For example," Kakashi held a kunai at Sasuke's throat, "Sakura, kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies!"

 

The reactions both Naruto and Sakura had were priceless.

"That's what happens on a mission," Kakashi steadily pulled away his weapon, making Sasuke relax against his grip, "the enemy takes a hostage and you've got an impossible choice and someone ends up dead. On every mission, your life is on the line." He got off of the 'boy' he was holding and walked over to a stone, "Did you look at this stone? The names engraved on it? They are all ninja, who were honored as heroes in our village."

"That's it! That's it! That's it! Now I know," Naruto cheered, "I decided that I'm gonna have my name engraved on that stone, I'm not gonna live and die for nothing like a dog! I'm gonna be a hero! A hero!"

"They are... a special kind of hero."

"Huh? What kind of hero are they? Come on, tell us!" Kakashi remained silent for a moment, "Well, well?!"

"They're all KIA."

"Ooh, that sounds real cool."

"It means 'killed in action', they all died." Sakura informed the blonde.

 

"This is a memorial stone, the names of my closest friends are engraved on here," Kakashi said solemnly, Sasuke could understand the pain he felt since she had lost her family to her own brother, "alright, I'm going to give you one more chance but I'm going to make it much harder on you: you'll have three hours to get a bell, eat lunch now to build up strength but Naruto doesn't get any. It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself. And if anyone tries to feed him, that person will immeadiatly fail. I make the rules, you follow them, got it?"

 

The jōnin then walked away to leave the two untied genin to eat, both Sasuke and Sakura started eating but Naruto's growling stomach only made them have a small bite. 

"This is no big deal, I can go without eating for days, for weeks! Believe it, this is no big deal!" Naruto started before another growl shook his confidence away, "...no problem..." Naruto was starving and people gain their energy from food, Sasuke knew she couldn't just sit, eat and do nothing, so she held out her bento box for him.

"Here."

"What? No, Sasuke, you can't do that. You heard what the sensei said." Sakura looked around to see if the jōnin was even around.

"Kakashi is gone, we need to get those bells as a team. If Naruto's hungry, he'll be weak and ineffective, that hurts the team and jepordises the mission." The raven informed, she noted that Sakura looked down at her bento before holding it to Naruto as well.

"..." Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and smiled, Sasuke could feel something dark panging at her chest as the sight before her set. It made her feel sick.

"Okay, thanks." Naruto said before realising that he can't even use his arms.

"Don't thank me just hurry up and eat!"

"But, isn't that your lunch?"

"I-I'm on a diet, I mean, I don't eat as much as Sasuke so... Ugh! Just take it, Naruto."

"I can't take it, because I can't move my hands. You gotta feed me."

"Huh?!"

"Hurry up! He could come back at any minute." The raven ordered.

"Grr, this is one time only! That's it, I'll never do this again. Is that clear?!"

"Clear as a bell, Sakura."

 

The pinkette held out her chopsticks as Naruto opened his mouth and closed it, encasing the food in his mouth. Sasuke reached out and quickly gave her her to him while keeping a look out. He smiled before smoke came out of nowhere in front of them, Kakashi dramatically walked over to them.

"YOU!" He yelled, making everyone, except Sasuke scream, "you broke the rules, I hope you're ready for the punishment." 

 

The jōnin started making hand signs, which made the sky turn grey and spark up lightning.

"Any last words?"

"B-b-but you s-said..." Naruto shakily started.

"Yes?"

"You said that there were three of us, that's what you said and that's why... Sakura and..."

"We're all on this squad and we're all in it together!" Sasuke helped the blonde finish.

"Yeah, that's right! We gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one!" Sakura said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Believe it, that's right!"

"The three of you are one? That's your excuse?" The two genin prepared for any attack the jōnin would give them and be ready to protect Naruto as well, "you pass."

"Huh?"

"You. Pass."

"What do you mean? How'd we pass?" Sakura asked.

"You're the first squad that ever succeeded, the others did exactly what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves, a ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." Kakashi finished as Naruto started crying.

"...he's...uhh...you know...he's kinda cool!..." The blonde dramatically sobbed.

"The exercise is over, everyone passes. Squad 7 starts it's first mission tomorrow!"

"Yes!" Sakura cheered.

"I did it! I did it! Believe it, I'm a ninja, ninja, ninja!"

"Let's go home." Kakashi said.

 

Sasuke knew she was abandoning Naruto but she didn't want to blow her cover by acting like she's starting to care for other people. She does care about Naruto now but she doesn't want it to be too obvious, besides she had to do something first.

 

"YOU GUYS FORGOT TO UNTIE ME!"

 

* * *

 

Naruto started walking to his apartment door, groaning after eating too much ramen with Iruka. It was a pain to escape from the ropes but the first thing he did was eat ramen.

"Ugh...I'm never going hungry again... Huh?" The blonde noticed his door impaled with a kunai sticking out of it. The ring had a note stuck to it. "What's this?" 

 

_You left your kunai at the training spot, loser_

_P.S_

_Sorry about leaving you there_

 

Naruto had a good idea on who the person was to leave a message like this.

 


	3. Another Sharingan User And Nobody Told Me?!

Going on D-rank missions would've been normal if it weren't for Naruto's complaints. Every time he messed up made Sasuke either internally laugh, roll her eyes or make her cringe.

 

While she and her team were getting ready to get a new mission, Naruto was doing what he does best: complain about not getting a proper mission, but then again, he did have a point about it as it wasn't really any introduction to a mission with any ninja skills involved.

 

"Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat, he's a former brat and he wants a mission, so be it," the Hokage chuckled, catching everyone's attention, "since you're so determined, I'm going to give you a C-ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

"Yes! Who? Who?! Are we guarding a princess?! Or some big league counselor?!"

"Don't be so impatient, I will bring him in now," the Hokage informed before calling out, "send in our visitor."

 

As Team 7 looked behind them, the door opened revealing an old man, he didn't look impressed with his bodyguards.

"What the- a bunch of snot-nosed kids?" The old man then drank from a bottle of Sake, a bit of it dripping down his chin as Sasuke did her best to ignore that "and you, the little one with the idiotic look on your face, you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

"Hahaha! Who's the little one with the idiotic look on h-" Naruto looked up and saw that he was the shortest member of Team 7, he growled before attempting to attack the old man while Kakashi held him back, "I'll demolish you!"

"You can't demolish the client, Naruto, it doesn't work that way." The silver haired jōnin passively said.

 

The old man took another large drink from his bottle, making the raven try her best not to look at him in disgust; Sasuke would've taken a step back if she wasn't hiding her true gender, she never really trusted people ever since her family incident and this man wasn't going to be an exception for her.

 

"I am Tazuna," the man spoke after he wiped away the liquid off his mouth, "a master bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

 

Sasuke glowered her eyes at the man, she did not like him one bit.  _'You could at least treat us more nicely if don't want to end up dead, old man.'_  The raven warned in her head, she looked at Naruto and saw that he was now calm, excited that he would finally be getting a proper mission.

 

As the team agreed to the mission and started walking out of their home town, Naruto cheered out loud with a huge smile on his face.

 

"Yeah! All right!" 

"What are you getting so excited about, Naruto?" Sakura interrupted.

"This is the first time I ever left the village, I'm a traveler now, believe it!" Sasuke gave a small smile before hiding it behind her emotionless mask.

 

"Hey, am I supposed to trust my life to this runt? He's a joke." Tazuna complained, unaware of the mental kunais being thrown at him by Sasuke.

"He's with me and I'm a jōnin so you don't need to worry." Kakashi insisted while chuckling nervously. 

 

"Hey!" Naruto called out as he pointed a finger at Tazuna, "never insult a ninja, it's a big mistake and I'm one of the greatest ninja ever! Someday, I'm going to be Hokage and you'll look up to me! My name's Naruto Uzumaki, remember it!"

 

Sasuke smirked at Naruto's childish ways, she was certainly starting to see him in a new light now that he's keeping her secret for her, and that was six days ago. You'd think by now, her secret would be out; Naruto must really care about her now.

 

"Hokage are powerful and wise, you are puny and brainless." Tazuna blandly replied, Sasuke gave another glare behind his back,  _'don't underestimate Naruto, you old bat. You should be more grateful that we even agreed to this mission in the first place.'_

"ARRGGHH! Shut up! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage, no matter what it takes! And when I do, everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja, including you!"

"You can become Hokage ten times over and to me, you'll still be nobody, a loser."

 

Naruto growled once more before being held back by Kakashi.

"I told you, you're supposed to protect the client, not attack him."

 

* * *

 

Sasuke heard birds chirping as she walked with her group, birds were the one thing that reminded her of Itachi, more being the crow. Once, while she and Itachi were spending time together as kids, Sasuke found an injured crow and she insisted that she and her brother take care of it until it was better, but now that memory was history.

 

She was partially listening to the conversation the group was having while staying silent. She did give occasional glances at Naruto and he gave her wide smiles that almost freakiest her out. How is it that some people have the creepiest of smiles?

 

"...Well, anyway," Kakashi placed his hand on Sakura's head, "there are no ninja battles in a C-ranked mission so you can relax."

"And we're not going to run in to any foreign enemy ninja or anything like that." Sakura let out a breath of relief and Kakashi chuckled.

"Not likely." Sasuke felt a change in chakra, it seemed more... Suspicious... She could tell because her Sensing Technique was quite sensitive and she was quick to notice chakra before other students, she just never told anyone other than Itachi.

 

As the group continued walking, they didn't notice the figures behind them pulling out their weapons until they threw chains directed at Kakashi. The jōnin didn't react in time and was thus tied up in the chains. As the weapons were pulled, Kakashi's body was seemingly destroyed, making the genin cry out or look in shock 

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto called out, giving the enemies an advantage to attack him from behind.

 

On instinct, Sasuke jumped and threw a shuriken, not at the enemy but the chain. Headshot, the raven then threw her kunai and sunk the chain into a tree. The ninja then landed on her two opponents' shoulder, she grabbed the two wrists connected to the chain before kicking her legs back into their heads, breaking the chain.

 

Before she knew, the enemy turned to Sakura and Tazuna and ran towards them. Sasuke ran ahead and got in front of the two, preparing herself for any impact until the enemy ninja were in the grasp of none other than Kakashi.

 

"Hi." The silver haired jōnin blandly spoke with what seemed to be a smile on his face but was hidden behind that mask of his. He was quick to strangle the enemies unconscious.

"Kakashi-Sensei! You're alive!" Sakura called out with joy.

 _'Showoff.'_ Sasuke thought.

"What?! But he was-" Naruto looked behind him and saw the shattered pieces of wood on the ground, "Kakashi-sensei... Used the replacement jutsu."

"Naruto," Kakashi called out, "sorry, I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I just didn't think you would freeze up like that," Sasuke took note of his words, from what she could remember, she didn't see Naruto get hit anywhere, "good job, Sasuke," her teacher complimented, she listened but she didn't take her eyes off Naruto, "very smooth. You too, Sakura."

 

Although she likes being praised, Sasuke couldn't help but feel bad for Naruto. She could only think of one thing to lift up his spirit.

"Hey," Naruto looked up at her, "you're not hurt, are you? Scaredy-cat." The raven teased as she gave a soft smile, making the blonde blush.

"N-No, I'm not." As Naruto gave her a thumbs up, Sasuke noticed the bleeding scar on his hand.

"Yes, you are. Look at your hand." 

"Naruto. Stand still. These ninja have poison in their claws, we need to take it out of you quickly," said Kakashi.

 _'He got poisoned?!'_  

"We need to open the wound and remove it; it's in your blood so don't move around, that spreads the poison," Kakashi finished, before turning to Tazuna, "by the way, Mr Tazuna."

"Uhh, yeah, what?" The old man replied nervously.

"We need to talk." The silver haired jōnin said sternly, like a father scolding a child, a tone that Sasuke knew too well.

 

As Kakashi started tying up the enemies, Sasuke quickly walked over to Naruto and looked at his hand.

 

"Naruto, let me help you." She insisted as she took off her bag and took out a bottle of water.

"Wha- but Sasuke, that's  _your_ water." Naruto complained.

"I could just take yours or Sakura's, now hold still." 

"No, no. You don't have to." The blonde pushed Sasuke back with both hands.

"What did Kakashi and I just tell you? Don't move, idiot!"

"But-"

"Sasuke," Kakashi made the girl jump in surprise with his sudden call, "I'll treat that wound, just leave the water besides him and I'll be there to help him soon."

"R-right." Sasuke nodded and placed the water down.

 

"They're chunin from the Village Hidden in The Mist, their specialty is relentless attack. They keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice." Kakashi informed everyone nearby.

"How did you know about our ambush?" The enemy asked while glaring at Kakashi.

"A puddle. On a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks?" He replied as if they just asked the obvious.

"In that case, why'd you leave it for the genin to do all the fighting?" Tazuna asked.

"I could have taken them out quickly but then I'd have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was... and what they were after."

"What are you getting at?"

"This. I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or if they were attacking you, the master bridge builder? When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection from robbers and highwaymen; you didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down," Sasuke looked at both Kakashi and Tazuna, noticing that the old man looked at the ground in shame.

 

"If we knew this, it would be a B-rank mission or higher, our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. Apparently, you have your reasons but lying to us is  _not_ acceptable; we are now beyond the scope of this mission." Kakashi finished his interrogation before Sakura spoke up.

"We're genin, this is too advanced for our level of training. We should go back, and I really think we need to treat Naruto's wound and get the poison out as soon as possible." 

 

Kakashi considered the girl's words as he looked at Naruto, the blonde did the same with Kakashi.

 

"Naruto's hand could become a problem," he then sighed, "I guess we _should_  go back to the village."

 

The Uchiha heard a growl emitting from her blonde comrade. She turned her glance to Naruto, not expecting him to pull out a kunai and to her horror, stab the back of his hand with it to spill out the poison.

 

"...why am I so different?... Why am I always- argh!" Naruto cried out in pain and anger.

"Naruto, stop that! What are you doing?!" Sakura called out worriedly.

"...y-you... You idiot! You couldn't have just used the water to get it out, could you?!" Sasuke's harsh and cold attitude was back and she was aware of it; if she acted too out of character by being nice and social, it would lead to suspicion from Sakura and Kakashi and then to them finding out her secret, unless something else more suspicious came up.

 

"I worked so hard to get here, pushing myself until it hurts! Training alone for hours; anything to get stronger; to reach my dream. I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I will never run away and I will not lose to Sasuke," Sasuke's heart was beating faster than it's usual tempo and her cheeks were slightly shaded in colour, "Upon this wound, I make this pledge. Believe it. Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife; a real ninja never gives up and neither will I. Don't you guys worry about me, I'll be fine. Now let's go." 

"Naruto, uh, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all but if you lose any more blood, you're going to die." Kakashi informed, making the blonde start freaking out, "good idea to stop the bleeding now, seriously."

"Nonono, I'm too young for it to end like this!" Naruto spoke so rapidly that it almost wasn't coherent.

"Show me your hand." Kakashi ordered politely but Naruto was still freaking out.

"Naruto, cut it out, idiot!" Sasuke yelled as she punched the top of Naruto's head.

"OWW! What was that for?!" 

"Stay. Still." She threatened, making Naruto stop squirming.

 

Kakashi looked at the wound with a serious expression on his face.

"Um... um, you have a really serious look on your face, you're scaring me. Am I okay?" Naruto shakingly asked.

 "Uh... Yeah, you should be fine." Kakashi poured some water onto the wound to get rid of the blood and then wrapped it in bandages. 

 

Naruto calmed down before turning to Sasuke and giving her his usual thumbs up with his cheesy grin, the raven simply raised her nose and shut her eyes to make it seem like she was annoyed rather than relieved.

 

"Sasuke, you're so cool!" Sakura smiled, "the way you thought about using water to get the poison out, that was so daring."

"I only took out a bottle of water, nothing else. And right now isn't the time to fawn over me." Sasuke shoved her hands in her pockets and resumed her walk before the others began following her.

 

* * *

 

Seeing through thick fog was really difficult, Sasuke could barely even see the other end of the boat.

 

Naruto glared at the waters as the boat moved forward. It seemed more time consuming to ride in boats but walking even more would leave the group open to more attacks but Naruto thought differently, he wasn't going to let Sasuke jump in and get hurt protecting him.

 

"The bridge isn't far now," the boatman informed, "our destination's just ahead, the Land of Waves."

 

As the boat kept moving, an unfinished bridge came clearer into sight. The mist only made it look ominous with unnatural silence, that is until Naruto spoke up.

 

"Whoa! That's huge!" The blonde smiled like an innocent child would when being introduced to something new and exciting.

"Quiet! I told you no noise, why do you think we're travelling like this?" The boatman whispered loudly, "cutting off the engine and rowing; moving through the dense fog so they don't see us."

 

Sasuke clenched her teeth behind her closed mouth to keep her tongue from moving on it's own. 

 

"Mr Tazuna, before we reach the pier, I have to ask you something," Kakashi alerted the old man, his students turned their glances to face him, "the men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

 

The raven remembered an incident with her father that had him scolding her harshly. She didn't mean to distract Itachi while he was training and almost get hit by one of his kunai, thankfully, he jumped in and saved her. Their father was more upset that she disrupted their lesson than the fact that she almost got hurt; he didn't care that he was neglecting his child just to praise the other.

 

 _'Kakashi is almost like a father, but a lot more kinder.'_  the raven thought as she paid attention to Tazuna's information.

"...the one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"Who is it?" Kakashi interrogated.

"You know him, at least I'm sure you heard his name before; he's one of the wealthiest men in the world, the shipping magnet Gatō."

"Gatō? Of Gatō Transport? He's a business everyone knows him." As Kakashi and Tazuna spoke, Sasuke couldn't help but glare,  _'loan sharks.'_

 

"When Gatō first set his sight on the Land of Waves a year ago, he came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply... Disappeared," the way Tazuna phrased his words as he described Gatō made the hairs on Sasuke's arms rise, she couldn't help but dart her eyes around like the boatman in case they were being watched, "...a man who controls the sea controls everything but there's one thing he fears... The bridge. When it is complete, it will join us to the land and that will break his control." Tazuna explained, patiently and less pushy. Sasuke remained alert and watched both the old man and their surroundings.

 

"So that's it, since you're in charge of the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way." Sakura said, stating the obvious.

"And that means those guys we fought in the forest, they were working for Gatō, no doubt about it." Sasuke agreed, how is it that one man can be so powerful? Then again, she is related to some of the most powerful shinobi in ninja history but she heard about them when she was a child and could barely remember any of their names.

 

Hearing that the Land of Waves was very poor made her sympathize witg the people who lived in it but now her, Naruto and Sakura's lives were currently at risk because of this mission. Kakashi wouldn't be able to protect everyone of them if they got hurt.

 

If she were strong enough, then she would be able to fight by her teacher's aide and assist him with protecting both the bridge builder and her team.

 

The tunnel they entered had more light on the other side, as if the mist was only there to mislead them group on how the view beautiful the view actually was. 

 

She was careful with her footing as she got off the boat, she shoved her hands back in her pockets as she and Naruto smiled at eachother before looking away quickly.

 

The group then continued their walk, Naruto occasionally glanced at Sasuke with a cheeky grin before challenging her.

 

"Hey Sasuke, bet ya' I can reach that tree before you."

"It never takes that long for something to slip from your mind, especially when your life's on the line with poison." Sasuke joked, despite it sounding more offensive than teasing.

"Ehh, you're cruel." He exaggerated dramatically.

 

The Uchiha girl's senses were strong enough to tell what was human and what wasn't so the kunai Naruto threw to impress Sasuke almost hit a rabbit... And she almost thought it was actually the enemy.

 

"Huh, it was just a mouse."

"Mouse?! Everyone can see through your stupid act, you're so obvious, it's embarrassing!" Sakura insulted.

"Then how come you fell for it, Sakura?" Sasuke thought out loud, making Sakura shut her trap. The pinkette's face turned red instantaneously.

"Naruto, those are kunai knives, they're dangerous." Kakashi warned, his patience wearing thin.

"STOP TRYING TO SCARE ME YOU SCRUPPY LITTLE DWARF!" Tazuna yelled in rage.

 

Naruto threw another kunai, only to get a harsh punch from Sakura.

"Why'd you do that? Someone really is following us, I mean it!" He insisted, clutching his head right where the girl had punched him. She must've hit him pretty badly.

"Yeah right!" Sakura then turned her head to see what Kakashi was looking at, recoiling in shock and anger, "Naruto, look at what you did!"

"Ah! A rabbit!" Sasuke just felt like laughing and rolling her eyes a the same time at Naruto holding a white rabbit and repeatedly apologizing to it,  _'man, he's such a moron.'_

 

"LOOK OUT!" Kakashi called out suddenly as a large sword was thrown in the group's direction. Sasuke ducked as fast as she could and the sword flew into a tree, embedding itself in the wood and what seemed to be it's owner balanced himself on the handle.  _'Another assassin, this time more stronger than the last two.'_  

 

"Well, well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in The Mist," just as Kakashi finished his first sentence, Naruto attempted to run and attack the new enemy, only to be held back by his teacher, "you're in the way, get back."

"But why?!"

"He's not like those other ninja, he's in a whole other league, if he's our opponent, I'll need this."

 

Kakashi raised his arm to lift off his forehead protector off his eye.

 

"Kakashi of the Sharingan eye, did I get that right?" The rogue spoke in such a raspy voice that it almost wasn't clear but Sasuke heard the first part immediately. She turned her shocked gaze at Kakashi.

 

Sasuke's eyes widened as she saw Kakashi get in a fighting stance with one eye bearing a Sharingan,  _'it's no joke, he actually has it. Why does he have it in the first place? And why didn't he tell me?!'_

 

"Looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action," Zabuza muttered, "this is an honor."

"Everyone keeps saying Sharingan, Sharingan, will someone please tell me what Sharingan is?" Naruto demanded, still confused as hell, it gave no choice to his friend.

"Sharingan, a rare power. It resides in the eyes, the user of this visual jutsu , Ordo jutsu, can instantly see and comprehend any Genjustu, Taijutsu and Ninjutsu and reflect the attack back on the attacker. However, there's more to the Sharingan than that, a lot more..." The raven was now both openly confused and scared as thick mist surrounded them, she didn't let her emotions show or else she'd be seen as weak. Why wasn't she told anything about this?

 

 _'Wait, the Sharingan is a_ _trait that only occurs in members of the Uchiha clan, my clan,'_ Sasuke looked at Kakashi with a firm gaze that hid her hope and wonder,  _'could he be...'_

 

"Enough talking, I need to exterminate the old man, now." 

 

Sasuke rapidly jumped into formation in front of Tazuna, holding out a kunai for attack and defense. She watched as the enemy landed on water, building up chakra before disappearing. The mist was getting even thicker as her mind raced in fear.

 

 _'I feel like I can't breathe... The atmosphere, it's like it could kill anyone if they just breathed... It's suffocating. If it goes on like this, I'll go insane!'_ the Uchiha gripped her kunai with so much strength, she was surprised it didn't bend already,  _'everything feels... Like that time! I don't want to see that anymore,'_ Sasuke held the handle with both hands as flashes of the massacre played through her head,  _I can't bear it... I'd rather-'_

 

"Sasuke!" The said girl was snapped out of her trance, "calm down, I'll protect you with my life, all of you," Kakashi informed courageously, "I will not allow my comrades to die, trust me." Kakashi gave her a smile to reassure her and she nodded firmly.

 

She has so many questions for this jōnin, she wanted the answers... If she got out of this situation alive.


	4. A Bloody Reveal

The Uchiha could still feel the sensation of someone punching her stomach so hard, making the metallic taste of blood linger on her taste buds.

 

As Naruto quickly made shadow clones to fight Zabuza, one of the clones came to her aid, lifted her in his arms and gave a massive jump away from the danger.

 

The massive man knocked Naruto away like it was nothing, his sword cut through a few and they poofed away in smoke. Sasuke stood up in anticipation, waiting for a signal that told her Naruto was safe and unharmed.

 

"Sasuke!" She heard the boy call out her name as she saw a closed shuriken being thrown in her direction. It was almost like reading each others mind when she figured out his plan. Swiftly grabbing the weapon, Sasuke didn't hesitate to open it and call out it's name.

"Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!" She threw the weapon with a disguised Naruto under its shadow. When he came out of hiding, Sasuke grinned when she saw that his plan was a success and Kakashi was now free but in all honesty, she could see that glare from her teacher that made her want to pull for a kunai for protection.

 

She watched as he used that Sharingan eye with great interest. It was fascinating how a non-Uchiha (possibly) could use the dojutsu so easily, he must've had for a while. She was then snapped out of her thoughts on the kekkei-genkai when the water swept her and her team off their feet.

 

Now she was aware of the current situation, it was suspicious when watching that ANBU take away Zabuza's body but that was currently the least of her concerns.

 

"Damn!" Sasuke scowled as she remembered how the jōnin before her fell into unconsciousness,  _'I guess questions would have to be asked later, when this guy's awake.'_ she thought, almost flinching on pain as she lifted Kakashi's arm over her shoulders.

 

Since Zabuza had managed to make blood spill from her mouth when he punched her in the gut, Naruto grew worried for the raven's wellbeing so he went over and lifted the other arm over his own shoulders.

 

"You need a hand?" He teased playfully, not aware that Sasuke wasn't in the mood.

"Not-" She almost replied but Sakura's interruption made her glare at the other girl.

"Sasuke doesn't need anyone's help, he can do anything on his own, especially not from  _you_." The pinkette pointed at Naruto.

"I'm only trying to help. Sasuke did get hurt fighting Zabuza and if I weren't there, we'd all be dead!" Naruto stated, irritated at Sakura's obsession. Sasuke felt herself get surprised at his action, he's usually trying to get the pinkette's attention but now, it was different.

"What makes you think-"

"Enough." Sasuke called out, "incase you have forgotten, we're still on a mission and we need to get the bridge builder to safety," a sudden form of leadership entered the Uchiha's mind as Naruto and Sakura looked to her for orders, "Naruto, you make a clone to help me with Kakashi; in the mean time, you can help Sakura look after Tazuna."

 

Naruto gave a nod and quickly made a clone before he and the clone gave Sasuke a thumbs up, making her roll her eyes.

 

As the group continued their journey to Tazuna's home, questions ran all around Sasuke's mind.  _'Kakashi has a Sharingan, is he in a way related to me? Just how much does he know about the Uchiha...and Itachi_ _?'_  

 

"Sasuke?" The said girl turned attention to the clone helping her carry their teacher, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She replied, nothing more, nothing less.

"You sure?"

"I said I'm fine!" 

"..."

 

Naruto's clone shot her a saddened look at her coldness before brushing it off and giving her a smile.

 

"You shouldn't be so cold to people who are worried about you, I care for you." The blonde assured the girl, making a small tint of pink appear on her cheeks.

"...shut up, loser." She muttered as she turned her gaze away from Naruto.

 

After a while, the group had successfully made it to Tazuna's home. A young woman made her way out of the said building and ran over to Tazuna... She looked a bit like Sasuke's mother...

 

"Father, you made it back!" The woman said as she let out a sigh of relief and hugged Tazuna.

"I'm alright, Tsunami," the woman looked at the three genin and unconscious jōnin, "these are the ninja who will protect me when I'm building the bridge."

"Bring him in." She said, referring to Kakashi. Sasuke and the clone held onto Kakashi as they were led upstairs to a room and layed him down on a futon.

 

She couldn't help but hold a glare at her teacher, just how did he get that Sharingan and why didn't he tell her in the first place?

 

As the woman went to see if Kakashi had any injuries, the genin left the room. Naruto's clone disappeared and left the real one looking at her in concern.

 

"Hn!" The raven clenched her fists in frustration as anger clouded her mind and a small bout of pain surrounded her lower abdomen.

"Sasuke-" Sakura started before being interrupted.

"What?" She snapped at the girl.

"I was- I was just wondering if you'd like to spend some time with me." She timidly answered, clearly scared of the reaction she got out of her crush.

"No." 

"Wha... But why?"

"You forget that you're still annoying."

"That doesn't matter. We're teammates and we need to get along."

 

"Can I join?" Naruto called out but Sakura ignored him, irritating Sasuke.

"You're saying that we should be friends just because we're teammates but you're ignoring Naruto, you hypocrite." Sasuke informed the pinkette.

"But I-"

 

Sasuke didn't say anything else and started walking off, going outside to get some fresh air to calm herself. _'I could've punched her face in to shut her trap.'_

 

The wind blew her hairs back as she kicked her legs out over platform of the house, she couldn't stop thinking no matter how much she wanted to.

 

"You know, Sasuke," the said girl turned her head to see Naruto walking over and sitting next to her, "Sakura was only trying to be nice to you."

"Hn. You don't understand how annoying and useless she is." She scoffed without a second thought.

"Then what am I?" He suddenly asked, making the girl look at the water in silence. Naruto smiled as he saw the sunset making Sasuke's appearance light up; usually he would be thinking about how stuck-up the Uchiha was, that was before he found out about her true gender and heard her story, he could now understand how she felt due to the loss of her family, he saw her in a new light now.

"I... I could consider you somewhat funny but you're still a loser who doesn't know anything." She answered after returning from her deep thought.

"Well, I already know the Shadow Clone Jutsu and I know you even better, that's two things." He playfully pointed out, nudging her shoulder a little rough but not like his attempted punches that he used to give her.

"You loser..." She muttered, trying to hide her blush while gently holding her shoulder but he already noticed before she could do anything about so Naruto gave her a smile, "what?"

"Nothing, I just think that maybe if you looked more like..." Sasuke looked at him with a look, "you know..." He referred to her gender, "you'd be even more good-looking."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

 

"Huh?..." It took a moment for Naruto's words to process through his head, "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! YOU'RE PERFECTLY GOOD-LOOKING- I MEAN YOU'RE NOT UGLY!-"

 

**_Splash!_ **

 

Sasuke didn't say a word, but instead got up and started walking back inside the house, leaving Naruto to swim back to the shore.

 

* * *

 

Now knowing that Zabuza was still alive and that boy who took his body away was his accomplice, Sasuke groaned at the idea of fighting a man that savage but it was either that or stay weak when she fights Itachi.

 

During the day, Sasuke was either outside or sitting next to Kakashi after he woke up. She didn't know what to say or how to ask the man about the kekkai genkai, but what she did know was that it couldn't deactivate itself.

 

Naruto had given her some space and Sakura was helping Tazuna's daughter and grandson, leaving the Uchiha alone with Kakashi to help him if he needed anything. 

 

"You must have some questions." Kakashi spoke once he sat down on the futon and placed his crutches aside.

"..." Sasuke didn't falter her gaze and kept looking at the silver haired jōnin, "how did you get that Sharingan?"

"Well, that... That's a long story."

"I've got time." 

 

"If that's the case, then you'd better sit down," Kakashi smiled at her as he patiently waited for the 'boy' to sit down, "When I was your age, I had a comrade who belonged to the Uchiha clan..." The story went on and Sasuke listened carefully, not forgetting any details. She never heard about an Uchiha giving up his eyes as a gift until now and despite getting the answers, she felt more confused than ever.

 

 "So... You're not in any way related to me at all."

"No... I'm sorry for what you had to go through losing your family but you can always talk to me. I lost my dad when I was still a kid so I know what you're feeling."

"Kakashi," she spoke up, "you will teach me how to control my Sharingan when I awaken it, right?"

"Of course, there's a reason why Hokage set me up to be your sensei." He chuckled, "do you think you could help me go downstairs? I did promise to give you, Naruto and Sakura a lesson today."

 

* * *

 

_**Crunch!** _

 

Sasuke panted as she kicked herself away from the tree she was climbing on, she came at it with too much chakra and now there was another footprint on the tree.

 

"Grrr..." She softly growled. The fact that Kakashi said that 'The only girl on the team' had better chakra control than she and Naruto and that her clan wasn't so great after all with her part of it made her blood boil in offence.

 

She couldn't blame him for addressing her and Naruto as boys as he doesn't know her secret, but he didn't have to say anything about her clan, much less make his sentence sound so offensive unless he knew something.

 

Anger and frustration weren't the only emotions she felt, she also felt jealousy dripping it's poison into her veins at the sight of Naruto asking Sakura for advice but the socially ignorant 'boy' didn't understand why she felt like that.

 

The raven then brushed the thought off and ignored the pain in her lower abdomen before resuming her training, unaware of the red liquid starting to drip down her leg and stain her white shorts, however her comrades and teacher did.

 

"Sasuke! You're hurt!" Sakura called out, distracting the Uchiha and making her loose her stance on the tree and fall.

"Woah!" Sasuke cried out as she hit the ground with her back, "ouch... What the fuck is your problem, Sakura?!" The raven snapped and the other girl flinched in fear.

 

"Watch your language, Sasuke." Kakashi warned while carefully walking over to her with his crutches, "Sakura is only worried about you."

"Why should she be?"

"Cause you're bleeding, Sasuke!" Naruto answered, hurrying himself over to his friend.

"Huh?" Sasuke looked at her upper body and tapped her arms around to feel the liquid, not noticing the blood between her legs as it slowly but horrifyingly turned white to red. Her eyes widened when her arms travelled to her inner thigh, touched the blood and recoiled at the wet sensation. She had almost screamed when she looked at her hand and where she felt it, "...w-w-what the fuck? ...I-I'm bleeding... Why am I bleeding?"

"Calm down, Sasuke, it must be a cut you didn't notice from when we were attacked by Zabuza," Kakashi spoke before holding out his hand for her, "it must be either a deep cut or a vein if your bleeding that heavily. Let me help you with it."

"I-I didn't..." She stuttered, feeling the memories of her family's blood that painted the ground creep into her mind, "...I can't... why won't it stop?..." She whispered with wide eyes, it was almost unnatural to see Sasuke in fear. Kakashi quickly waddled over to Sasuke and knelt down in front of her.

"Sasuke, just focus on your breathing. Look at my face," the Uchiha looked at Kakashi, who looked at her with care as he pushed her hair out of her face. She began to breathe with ease as the thoughts of that day slowly faded, "I'll take you back to Tazuna's house to check if you have any more severe injuries on your body."

Naruto gave a panicked look before stuttering, "n-no, sensei! I can help Sasuke, let me take him back to give him bandages!" He knew that Kakashi would find out if he helped the bleeding raven.

"I think you need to work on your chakra control, Naruto, I'll help Sasuke." Kakashi didn't waste any time to pick up Sasuke and pull her back on her feet and walk away with the girl before the blonde jinchuriki could protest.

 

"Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man!" Naruto shrieked with a high voice, making Sakura change her mind to ask him what's wrong.

 

* * *

 

 Sasuke felt vulnerable more than she had ever felt in her life with Kakashi towering over her while repeating a demand.

 

"Sasuke, there's no need to worry, I'm only telling you to remove your pants so I can give you new ones." Kakashi tried reassuring her.

"No way!"

"I'm trying to help-"

"I can deal with this myself!"

"Sasuke..." The silver haired jōnin gave a stern look to warn the girl that she was starting to walk on thin ice, giving her no choice but to do as he asked. Hesitantly, Sasuke's fingers pushed down her shorts to her feet and left her lower half in just her bloodied underwear, "well, this is a surprise..."

 

The Uchiha didn't say anything as she tried to hide the tears forming in her eyes.  _'Now he knows... What's he going to do next?'_ The fact that he looked relatively calm made it uneasy and more uncomfortable.

 

Much to the girl's surprise, Kakashi held out a new pair of pants for her with extra underwear for her and a strange small pack.

"Go into the bathroom, wash off and change in there."

"Wait," she heaved a breath, "what's this?" She pointed at the pack.

"That collects your blood if you stick it to your underwear." He answered simply, still unsure how to tell Sasuke about how he knew about the entire thing.

 

Sasuke nodded and closed the door to the bathroom once she was inside, it took a while but she was soon clean and walked out with fresh clothes.

 

She nervously took a step closer to her silver haired teacher before sitting next to him, waiting for the man to finish reading the page he's on.

 

"That's some secret you're hiding, Sasuke." He said cheerily, was he mocking her? "I think you owe me an explanation as to why you would keep this from me and Sakura since I told you about my Sharingan, Naruto seems to already know and I'll talk to him later."

"..." No response from the girl.

"Sasuke, I'm asking you a question and I want it answered."

 

"...You can blame my father for it..." She started, feeling both hesitant and valiant to admit her true gender, "he didn't want me. The only thing I got from him was my name..." Sasuke felt her eyes welling up, she hasn't cried in years. She shut them to avoid making anymore emotions in front of her teacher but alas, it failed, "he only lectured me... he did that... Just because I'm a girl..."

 

A small tear leaked down her chin as she remembered her father's angry and disappointed face, it was like that ever since she was born.

 

The sensation of a hand on her shoulder made her look up at Kakashi with a quivering lip. She couldn't tell if he was giving her a sympathetic smile or a small glare. The Uchiha decided to continue.

 

"...t-then my family died and I was left alone... A part of me wanted to reveal that I was a girl but... that would mean that I would have to get pregnant at a young age to repopulate the clan-" Kakashi held up his hand to stop her.

"Sasuke, where did you hear that?" He asked her with a concerned look.

"...My brother... when we were younger, he told me what he did in class. He said that before the village was created, if a clan only has one remaining member then they would have to have babies. For boys, it was easier, but the girls had to do it no matter how old..." Sasuke got surprised when she heard Kakashi chuckling.

"Sasuke, that was a long time ago. The village doesn't do that to anyone, what Itachi told you was pure history."

"So... That means... No one will make me get pregnant repeatedly?" She asked hopefully.

"No one," Kakashi gave Sasuke a small hair ruffling and the raven let out a sigh of relief that she didn't know she held in.

 

 _'I'm safe...'_ she thought, hoping that people would be understanding if she came out now.

 

"Please don't tell the Hokage or anyone else." She asked with a small light in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke, but when you're a ninja, you have to report everything and anything about a mission and a team; this is something I will have to inform the Hokage of." Playfully, Kakashi ruffled the girl's hair again and the raven looked at the floor in worry.

 

The masked jōnin was deep in thought, this girl had been pretending to be a boy for her entire life and it seems she had never gotten  _the talk_ before. How on earth was he going to tell Sasuke that bleeding was normal and that's it's related to babies without her getting either freaked out or nervous about the thought of having kids? 

 

"Sasuke?"

"Yes?"

"Do you... Know where babies come from?" Kakashi gave a hopeful look hidden behind his mask, he didn't want to explain  _that_.

"No," Sasuke looked confused as the silver haired jōnin gave a nervous chuckle, "what is it? What's the big deal with where babies come from?"

"I think you might need to have someone like Sakura or Kurenai explain it to you," Kakashi tried to keep a smile on his face while Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "I can explain what the bleeding is about-"

"Why can't you give me the full details yourself?"

"Men don't know how to speak without offending girls, and it's a bit of an embarrassing subject to talk about."

"I don't care about that right now. I need to know what's happening to me and why it's happening." Sasuke insisted, her face showing the rare expression of fear that would never come unless the situation is dire. Kakashi couldn't leave her like that.

"Well... The bleeding is natural for girl," he wasn't surprised when he was given a look of confusion, "it's just your body is changing; you're growing up."

"Oh..."

"Then again, I don't want to offend you so..." Kakashi brought a hand to where his lips would be in thought, "that won't work, Kurenai is back at the Hidden Leaf with Team 8. I guess right now we can tell Sakura and ask her to tell you more about it."

"Does it have to be Sakura?"

"Unless you don't want to know the pros and cons to growing up, yes." He smirked under his mask.

 

 _'Great,'_ Sasuke thought in irritation,  _'I'm alright with Naruto knowing; Kakashi, that's alright but Sakura... She's gonna make a big deal out of me not being a boy and I'll have to restrain myself from hitting her, too troublesome...'_


	5. New Trusts, And No Confession Just Yet

Sakura had a blank look on her face before fainting at the sudden news of Sasuke's actual gender. The Uchiha face palmed at the girl's stupidity while Naruto glanced at her repeatedly.

 

"I expected her to say something before fainting," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, "but this... It's just ridiculous."

"Well, you did just blurt it out to her out of the blue." Kakashi said, nose still stuck in that orange book of his.

"It was either that or give her proof..." Sasuke informed as she crossed her arms over her chest in irritation, _'_ _Naruto and Kakashi took it better- Kakashi took it better than I expected.'_ The Uchiha mentally corrected herself as she remembered Naruto's expression when he found out her secret.

 

Speaking of the blonde, the raven turned her gaze to see him watching her. When he saw that he was caught in the act, Naruto flinched and tried running up the tree, only to face plant harshly into the wood.

 

Sasuke brought a hand to her mouth and gave a small chuckle at Naruto's ridiculousness and stupidity, muttering a small 'loser' as she did so. The blonde has managed to make her smile and laugh after so long, he brought a small amount of light back in her sights.

 

Kakashi noted that a small faint pink tint of a blush made its way onto Sasuke's pale cheeks.  _'She must really trust Naruto.'_ he thought, thinking back to how the girl untied the boy from his trap seven days ago, how she stepped in when those chunin almost killed the jinchuriki and how she looked when Naruto had saved her from Zabuza.  _'Perhaps Naruto could lead her away from revenge.'_

 

 

"Sasuke," Kakashi called out to the Uchiha, "I'll go ahead and have a chat with Naruto; you wait here for Sakura to wake up while practicing your chakra control."

"Alright..." The raven looked back at Sakura's fallen body and gave a small glare.

"Try not to be too mean to her." 

"..."

 

With that silence, Kakashi walked up to Naruto and walked away with him, leaving the two girls alone.

 

Sasuke looked at the tree with her footprint embedded in the bark, so many things were going through her head.

 

_'My secret is out now... People will now start to treat me differently. If Itachi hadn't killed the family, then father probably would've yelled at me for being careless... Even if it means being neglected or yelled at, I still want my parents with me.'_

 

"...Ngh..." A soft moan made Sasuke's head look at Sakura, the pinkette rubbed her head as she slowly sat up before remembering what Sasuke told her, "... Sasuke?..."

"..." Said girl remained silent.

"... y-you told me that... You were a... Girl... Right?"

"Yes."

"..." Sakura looked at the ground in guilt and shame, she had broken her friendship with Ino, for a boy who turned out to be a girl, for nothing, "I can't believe it, I'm such a bad friend. Ino must hate me more than ever..."

"... Sakura?" The raven started, "I know you just saw me... Bleeding... And Kakashi told me to ask you about it. He said it was related to where babies come from."

"Huh? Oh, that's right, I remember now. You weren't in for that lesson when we were younger,' Sasuke looked at the other girl in confusion, "that one lesson that took place after your family..." Now this time, Sasuke reacted to the sentence with her eyes narrowing. Sakura shut her mouth, "sorry... you see, Sasuke, Iruka-sensei taught us that when we grow older, our body starts to change."

"How so?"

 

To the raven's confusion, Sakura's looked at the ground in embarrassment.

 

"Sorry, Sasuke... It's just... I still need to take this new information in," she admitted, Sasuke frowned and placed her back against the tree Sakura sat next to, "...why are you pretending to be a boy in the first place?..."

"...it was my father... He practically hated me when I was born because I wasn't a boy..."

 

Sakura looked at the Uchiha in sympathy; she felt embarrassed and horrible at the realization of how she treated Sasuke before, like a mere object who would accept any girl as it's owner, that wasn't Sasuke at all. 

 

Sasuke was more of a stubborn, quiet kid who never socialises with other people or shows that many emotions. But the Sasuke before her was more open, vulnerable to rejection and sudden sadness, almost as if she had suffered more than her family massacre.

 

The way she had behaved around the Uchiha over a small crush didn't help Sasuke to get over her horrific experience at all. Who would just forget something that tragic, even more so when it's their family?

 

"I'm sorry."

"Save your sympathy, Sakura, I don't really care." Sasuke closed her eyes and mentally glared at the image of her father and brother imprinted in her mind, the two causes that ruined her life. "I just want to know what's happening to me."

"Right," Sakura stood up and faced Sasuke, "when you're a girl and you reach the ages of , you start developing new things, like breasts."

"I... Have those..." The raven admitted with a flustered face.

"Right, and have you been growing hair in places?"

"Yes..."

 

* * *

 

 

"...that's why I kept it a secret, she and I are friends. Like you said, Kakashi-Sensei, those who abandon their friends are worse than scum!" Naruto admitted. Since Sasuke told Kakashi, it was alright for him to spill the beans.

 

"I see," Kakashi said, "but you were keeping vital information from me and Sakura."

"I would never go back on my word to keep a secret not anything else. Understand, I never go back on my word for anything, that's my ninja way! Sasuke would hate me if I told anyone else."

 

Kakashi smiled under his mask,  _'there may be more trust than teamwork but trust is the first step towards having a strong team.'_

 

The silver haired jōnin didn't say anything else, as he nodded to say that he now understood the reason and blossoming friendship between Naruto and Sasuke, but what he couldn't understand was why would Fugaku keep his daughter's gender a secret?

 

So what if she was a girl? That doesn't mean she won't be a good ninja, or that she won't be a proper clan leader. 

 

_'Was Fugaku really thinking that Sasuke would be able to keep her gender a secret forever, despite the fact that girls are easily identified by their body?'_

 

"Umm, Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto called out, making the said jōnin reply with a small 'hmm', "... you're... You're not really gonna tell the Hokage about this, right?..."

"I have to, Naruto, I'm sorry but if this were something minor, then I would let it slide," Kakashi replied as he turned on his heel and walked through the direction they came from, slightly struggling with the crutches.

 

Naruto looked at the ground in disappointment, Sasuke's secret will be out to the entire village now... And all because of an incident she couldn't control.

 

"Don't worry about her, Naruto, I know that Sasuke will be more than happy to stop hiding her gender." The jōnin reassured. Naruto gave a small smile at the thought of his friend being happy.

 

They walked until they saw the two girls sitting besides eachother and talking.

 

"... it's normal but right now, that's all I know." Sakura gave a sheepish smile while rubbing her head.

"Right... So any girl can pregnant." Sasuke said, she had a small blush on her cheeks due to the embarrassing topic.

"Well, not exactly. There's an age limit for girls."

"Great(!)"

"Women would have to be... I think 15 or more..." The pinkette rambled, Sasuke tilted her head.

"And what about the age we're at now?"

"We're too young for that, we are technically still kids."

 

Despite how easy it would be to talk about a subject like this, Sasuke still didn't understand and it can be clearly seen by Kakashi.

 

 _'She's quite innocent in a way, but not at the same time.'_ he thought, concerned if this would end up being a problem for Sasuke.

 

The Uchiha girl sensed the familiar chakra forms and turned her head to see her one friend and sensei. Naruto's expression caught her attention and it already spoke a thousand words.

 

"Now," Kakashi started, catching each of his students' attention, "everyone here knows that Sasuke is a truly a girl, right? That means it will be much harder for her while she grows up, I will have to speak to the Hokage about this and wait for his order on what to do," Sasuke clenched her fists in worry, "don't worry, Sasuke, if there's anything the Hokage won't do, it's exiling a kid," Sasuke couldn't help but doubt his words, "but if you want then you can skip training today and continue tomorr-"

"No! I have to train. I need to get stronger. I'm not letting a little blood stop me from training." She yelled almost instantly, startling her sensei momentarily.

"Right..." Kakashi then directed his gaze to the oldest on his team, "Sakura, did Sasuke ask you about her situation?"

"Yes, Sensei. I did try my best to answer them but I can't still don't understand all of this entirely," the Uchiha turned her head to her pink haired companion and watched how Sakura's lip began quivering in anticipation, "I mean...j-just why was she pretending to be a boy? And how long has she been trying to do this by herself? Why was I too stupid not to realise any of this?"

"Don't worry too much about that? None of us knew until today," Kakashi said after giving a small sigh,  _'looks like it's up to Kurenai to help, Sasuke's not going to be willing to go to a hospital for something like this.'_ he thought momentarily, "Sakura, after you run ten laps up the tree and back down, you can go guard Tazuna."

"What about Naruto and Sasuke?"

"...they still need to work on their chakra control," He stated after seeing Sasuke narrowing her eyes at Naruto, "you guys can continue."

 

"One moment, Kakashi," Sasuke spoke up with a sense of anger in her tone of voice, "I need to talk to Naruto." Her voice went so low at that moment, Naruto flinched away from her until he was right behind Kakashi.

"Eek!"

"Come with me, loser." She immediately grabbed his ear and yanked on it as she dragged him away.

"OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! SASUKE, THAT HURTS!" He screamed as he was taken behind a few trees.

 

A bead of sweat fell from Kakashi and Sakura's forehead when they heard Naruto's pleas for mercy and an unsheathing of multiple kunai.

 

* * *

 

Her thoughts kept running through her mind, distracting her most of the times. That arguement she had with Naruto didn't help her successfully let off steam as she was still fuming.

 

If the clan was still alive, they'd be ridiculed for hiding such a stupid secret and hate Sasuke for it, even though her father was the one who decided to say that she was a boy.

 

She could remember that whenever Itachi did anything not to her father's liking, he would sometimes hit her brother due to his strict nature. Fear clouded her mind when she thought that he would do the same to her, too bad he didn't care about Sasuke enough to even do anything to discipline her. 

 

If he were alive, then he would definitely hit her... Right?

 

"...ke? Sasuke!" Naruto's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"...what?" She bitterly replied, taking a glance at the boy who was now covered in bruises and scratches.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You been going at that tree for about two hours now, the sun is already going down. Kakashi had already left earlier."

 

To her surprise, Naruto was right. The sky had already changed into a orange/pink hue.

 

"That doesn't matter, I have to keep training..."

"Sasuke, are you... Crying?" The girl raised a hand to her eyes, feeling that they were slightly wet.

"N-no!"

"Look, if it's about your secret coming out then I'm sorry. I told Kakashi-Sensei made me crack-"

"Even if I were crying then it wouldn't be over some stupid secret!"

"Sasu-"

"Just shut up, okay?! It doesn't matter anymore."

 

The raven turned her back so she could face the tree, but she didn't expect to be trapped in a hug before she could continue running.

 

"Sasuke... It's alright. Everyone has secrets, even I do..." Naruto whispered as Sasuke stiffened in his embrace.

"..." She didn't say anything, she hasn't been hugged in a long time.

"I don't want my friend to feel abandoned like I was throughout my life so that's why I'm making a pact for us, we tell each other our secrets so we don't get hurt." As the blonde spoke, Sasuke's hand moved on it's own, reached up and took Naruto's hand.

"..."

"And Sasuke, I promise I will tell you any secret of mine, believe it. I have the nin-"

 

"Sasuke! Naruto! We have to go back, dinner's almost ready!" Sakura called out from a distance while she stood besides Tazuna.

 

Sasuke felt her stomach rumbling and pulled herself out of Naruto's grasp. She turned to face him about saw that he was running up the tree.

 

"Aren't you coming?" She blandly asked.

"Nah! You go on ahead, I'll keep training." He gave her his signature thumbs as he landed on the ground.

"Okay, you can tell me what you were going say later."

 

And with that she walked off.

 

* * *

 

The two female genin gave occaisional glances at each other while they ate their dinner. Sasuke looked up at Sakura and the pinkette gave her a warm smile to comfort her.

 

"So the Uchiha is actually a girl," Tazuna addressed, "I can't really blame her for hiding it. In the Land of Waves, young girls her age are targets for gangsters like Gato. They end up getting kidnapped and taken from their families to become-"

"Father!" Tsunami scolded loudly, "the girl has been through a lot today, I don't think she'd appreciate having another thing to worry about buried in her mind to make her paranoid."

 

Confused, Sasuke leant in closer to Kakashi as she tapped on his shoulder and whispered to him,

"What do they mean?" She asked with a piece of boiled saury in her mouth.

"Don't worry too much about it, Sasuke," Kakashi replied with a nervous chuckle, "I'd think you would be better for you to learn about it when you're more comfortable as yourself."

"...?" Sasuke gave her head a small tilt before deciding to resume her eating, despite the apparent lack of room in her stomach. 

 

She looked over at the empty seat in front of her, still no Naruto. _'He's probably slacking off as usual,'_ she thought as she brought a cup of water to her lips.

"So Sasuke, I saw that you and Naruto were pretty close to each other when I went to get you." Sakura pointed out to break the ice between her and the Uchiha.

"So?"

"Well, I just thought that if Naruto knew before me and Kakashi then you two are bound to be close. Like, _'boyfriend and girlfriend'_ close." The pinkette teased as she held out her empty chopsticks at the raven.

"What is with you and thinking about boys all the time?" Sasuke blurted out as she got even more irritated.

"Isn't it normal for girls to think about that?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"Not for me. In case you didn't know, I was spending too much time hiding my gender since it became natural for me when I turned five years old," Sasuke put down her chopsticks in frustration.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." 

"Just forget about it, I'm full." Sasuke muttered as she shoves her food to Sakura, "eat it, you're not eating enough anyway."

 

She bid her good nights to the team and went upstairs. She almost went into Naruto's room as she shared it with him on the first night but she was now sharing it with Sakura. The reasons to separate girls and boys by gender felt really stupid.

 

Heck, it even made Sasuke feel like that the more she heard it in the academy.

 

* * *

 

 The Uchiha heard birds chirping outside of the room she was sleeping in. She rubbed her eyes before sitting up and adjusting her eyes to the light. She noticed Sakura still sleeping next to her, Kakashi had ended up moving her with the pinkette to make her more comfortable even though she didn't care who she slept with.

 

Sasuke then felt a little drip in her underwear before remembering that she was on her first period. She rushed out of the spare futon, grabbed a pad and went into the bathroom. 

 

She looked into her pants and groaned; blood had spilt onto the back of her white underwear. Whenever she'd go and buy clothes, she always get the androgynous white underwear... All the time. She was so fucked when she gets home.

 

A sudden knock to the door made the girl jump.

 

"Sasuke? Are you in there?" Sakura asked.

"Um... Yeah, I am." She replied.

"Can you let me in?"

"What? Why?"

"Because we're both girls, and I have to teach you how to clean up blood... Heh heh..."

 

Sasuke quickly pulled up her pants before unlocking the door for her teammate.

 

"Hey," The pinkette said while walking in, "I even brought you an extra pair of underwear." She kindly held out the underwear with the small pack.

"...thanks."

"You stained the ones you're wearing, didn't you?"

"...Yeah..."

"Don't worry, that happens a lot to girls."

"How do you clean them though?" Sasuke remembered how Tsunami had cleaned her pants and underwear from yesterday for her without being asked and it made Sasuke feel a bit embarrassed.

"Water and soap."

 

The girls took their time together, this was the first time Sakura has ever seen Sasuke looking so confused in a lesson, if you could call it that. She did end up laughing a bit when Sasuke accidentally squirted water into her face, only to regret it when Sasuke gave her a glare.

 

"Again, I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have asked about that." Sakura admitted as she watched Sasuke rub the clothing under the running water.

"It's fine, Sakura." The Uchiha accepted the apology, knowing fully well that Sakura wanted to know more.

"When exactly did Naruto find out?"

"When we were assigned to Team 7."

" _That_ day?"

"Yep."

"Oh... I shouldn't get so caught up in not knowing the truth about you. I guess you and I are a lot alike."

"In what?"

"We both don't have that many friends and we're both insecure."

"...anything else?"

"W-well, I... Uhh, oh, look your clothes are clean now!"

 

Once the 'lesson' was over, they went downstairs to have breakfast. Kakashi was already at the table but there was no Naruto.

 

"Morning girls, how'd you sleep?" The silver haired jōnin asked with his usual lazy tone.

"It was fine," Sasuke said, before sitting down in front of a plate. Sitting down now felt a bit uncomfortable with the pad on, "where's Naruto?"

"Oh man, he must still be training. That idiot. He could be dead by now from using too much chakra."

"Don't worry about him too much. Naruto is a full fledged ninja, he can handle himself." Kakashi spoke up.

"Sakura is right. That loser just doesn't know when to quit, he's probably out there lying dead somewhere." Sasuke muttered audibly for everyone to hear. Kakashi noted that Sasuke was a little concerned about Naruto, it wasn't that easy to fool him. Sasuke got up from her chair, leaving an empty plate behind. "I'm going for a walk."

"Wait, Sasuke. You haven't even- th-that was fast." Sakura said after noticing the plate.

 

Sasuke walked in the direction of her team's current training area before passing by a pretty woman with long black hair. She did feel something odd about her but decided to ignore her and continued walking until she found Naruto.

 

She heard him complaining about something but she couldn't care less. Sasuke immediately punched his head.

 

"Oww! Hey, what did you do that for?" He yelled.

"Did you really just forget about breakfast? Or are you just used to not eating?" She asked.

"Oh..."

"And you still have to tell me about that secret you almost told me yesterday."

"Oh yeah! I will but first, I'm gonna show my skills to Sakura and Kakashi-Sensei... And you too!"

 

Sasuke sighed in annoyance.

 

* * *

  

 At the end of the day, Naruto went over to Sasuke while she was currently helping Kakashi up the stairs in his condition.

 

"Hey Sasuke! I still haven't managed to tell you about that thing I planned to tell you." He cheerily called out for her, only to flinch when she responded to him with an attitude.

"Not now, Naruto. I'm currently occupied with something so go bother Sakura while you're talking." She snapped.

"But Sasuke..."

"Maybe later, Naruto." She firmly replied.

"Don't you wanna-"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, NARUTO!" The raven yelled as she gave a shove to Naruto and he fell onto his butt.

"...I'm good." He called out while giving a thumbs up to her.

 

"That was a bit rude." Kakashi began.

"Don't give me a lecture."

 

* * *

 

The short lived pain of the senbon puncturing through her skin made Sasuke groan. This man before her was fast as fuck, probably faster than she is. With a fallen Naruto lying besides her, all she could do was protect him from being attacked as much as she could with her small, lanky body.

 

In an instant, Sasuke was almost overwhelmed with an unpredicted pain that protruded from her retinas. Her hand almost flashed over to her face to try and stop it, but even she couldn't stop it. She had awakened her Sharingan

 

It was natural for an Uchiha to go through a moment with their eyes being releaved of the harsh but short lived pain once their dojutsu was awakened. It was the same story that Itachi and her mother had informed her of when she asked about their Sharingan.

 

She couldn't remember the exact story of how her brother had his awakened since people kept changing certain parts of his story. But she would always remember her mother's tale.

 

How it sounded, how it was

 

When the blonde was at his most vulnerable, Sasuke couldn't stop her body from reacting and getting in front of a blow meant for her first true friend. It all happened so quickly, she couldn't even feel a senbon puncture her throat and chest in less vital areas but still...

 

"Un... H..." Naruto groaned as he weakly pushed himself off the cold floor. She heard him grin once he saw the fallen enemy, "Sasuke! You..."

"Sheesh..." She shakily began, she was in too much pain to be shocked that she was still able to talk, "no matter how many times I warn you, Naruto, you still keep getting in my way..." At the last part of her sentence, Sasuke choked on the blood that began building up in her throat and coughed it out violently.

"Wh-Why..."

"...you screw up!" She looked back at him with a face full of agony, "now get that lame expression of your stupid face..." With the same emotion on her face, she thought back to how Naruto had found out her gender and willingly kept it secret... For her, "...I'd be lying if I said I hate you... I mean I used to..."

 "You should have just minded your own business!!" The boy began whispering after letting his anger and sadness overtake him. "Why... Why did you...?! Why... Me...?"

"How should I know...?" She responded as her blood began dripping from her chin, her normally intelligent prowess in ninjutsu and training were always through the roof but her intelligence in socialising was a whole other level that was just cleaned of all the dust. "My body just... Moved... On its own... Loser...!"

 

She fell back once she couldn't hold her balance anymore, not expecting Naruto to rapidly react and catch her. The senbon that were sticking out of her body, that hurt intensely, were pushed in deeper. She gave out a groan that made Naruto hold her closer to his chest.

 

 _'Am I... Dying?'_ she thought as the blood on her chin started to drop in smaller droplets... No... This was more of that sensation of uncontrollable fatigue,  _'I can't die now... Itachi's still out there, he's still alive... He told me to kill him when I hated him enough, does the universe really hate me?...'_ Sasuke's eyes rolled to look at Naruto,  _'why did I get in the way? I wasn't even thinking about saving you, yet I did... You never even told me your secret so why should I care? Is it because you kept mine?...'_

 

"...N-Naruto, if... this i-is the end... I... I swore I wouldn't die...until I killed him... My older brother...thought the oath would save me... But don't let your goal die... Because... I..."   _'I don't want you to give up.'_

"Sasuke... My secre..." Naruto sniffed as he spoke but to Sasuke's shock... the sound started fading,"I'm..."

 

That was all she heard, she saw Naruto's mouth moving but that was all before her head tilted into his now blood stained jacket, bringing her to the black nothingness of her unconscious mind.

 

With wide eyes, Naruto gently reached and touched the girl's cold cheek in an attempt to get a response from her but all he achieved was her deathly silence. He knew that she couldn't have heard what he had just said, but he just didn't want to believe it.

 

"S... Sasuke...?" He whispered softly. "Sasuke, y-you can wake up now... Please...!"

 

She layed there in peace and quiet, one of the rare, if not, the rarest combination in her life, while the conflict unraveled a few meters away from her body.

 

She didn't wake up like a normal person though. When Sakura had pressed her forehead to her comrade's chest in a moment of mourning, she had unintentionally pushed a senbon into a pressure point.

 

The pinkette was so caught up in her apology that she wasn't aware of Sasuke stirring. The Uchiha heard the faint sniffles that came from Sakura as light overcame her. 

 

"...all I ever did was become a burden in your life when you needed help, I was such a terrible friend to you, Sasuke!" Sakura cried as she held onto Sasuke's body.

"...you just didn't know, Sakura..." The Uchiha breathed out, causing the pinkette to raise her head and smile in disbelief, "...and I'm surprised no one remembers to check for a pulse..."

"Sasuke... Sasuke! You're alive!" Sakura sobbed tears of joy while crushing the girl in a hug, pushing a few of the senbon needles into deeper territory of Sasuke's skin.

"Agh! S-Sakura, the senbon!" She gasped in pain. Sakura quickly pulled away.

"Oops, sorry!" She apologized as she helped the girl sit up.

"What happened?" The Uchiha shifted her head around and analysed the scenery, snow falling down on two bodies far from her sight and Naruto and Kakashi stood besides eachother.

"Zabuza and the boy died but before Zabuza died, Gatō came with a lot of men and tried to kill Tazuna himself and guess what. Zabuza chopped off Gatō's head!"

"Are you guys...?... Shit! What about Naruto? Is he alright?..." she asked as her head weakly changed its position to look back at Sakura.

"Yes, and so are we." Sakura crossed her arms in annoyance of being dismissed so easily. Sasuke rolled her eyes at Sakura's poor hearing.

 

As pain continued to run its venom through her veins, Sasuke was helped off the floor.

 

The raven looked in the blonde's direction, Sakura called out his name and the baby blue eyes that now seemed dead lit up like fireflies at the sight of an alive Sasuke.

 

 _'She's... She's alive...'_ Naruto thought before he broke into tear and into a run.

 

"Sasuke!" He yelled happily, the blonde jumped and expected to collide with his friend but instead crashed into the cold concrete, "OWW!"

"Oops..." The raven muttered sarcastically with a smile, not showing any guilt when she weakly moved out of the way.

 

Naruto looked up, not angry at all but overjoyed. The girl he got to know even better looked just beautiful as the red blood on her arms, neck, face and legs and the white flakes of snow that descended from the sky blended together to make a perfect mixture of beauty.

 

Kakashi walked over to them and placed a gentle hand on the kids' shoulders.

"I'm glad you guys made it out alive," he told them before looking over at Sasuke, who's body was pierced with senbon all over, "Sasuke, do you need any help to get you to a medic?"

"..." Sasuke couldn't get out of escaping a hospital this time, or at least a doctor but she had a new reason to avoid hospitals and doctors, "yeah, alright..." Kakashi went over to her and carefully liifted the bloodied girl into his arms, stopping when Sasuke gave a sharp wince of pain as she felt a senbon get pushed deeply into her skin. "Ow!"

"Sorry," he said before holding her close to his chest and despite the weather making everything so cold, Kakashi felt so warm, "I need a medic, right now!"

 

Naruto watched as Sasuke buried her head to the chest of their teacher as she wasn't willing to let anyone else see her this helpless in someone's arms. He smiled as he saw another side to Sasuke's personality, she was more independent and much more braver than him and Sakura combined especially since she took a bunch of needles to her skin.

 

There was one thing Naruto was now sure of,  _'I'm pretty sure don't like Sakura the way I did before... at least, I think.'_


	6. How Many Friends Do You Need To Trust?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday, Naruto!
> 
> Edit: Now I edited this chapter to make it make sense some more and I give my thanks to Menghui to pointing out my errors.

Naruto watched Sasuke as she walked with a small limp, the raven stayed close besides Kakashi just in case if she would fall while the team walked back to Konoha.

 

Sasuke did occasionally look behind her, giving a soft smile whenever Naruto quickly looked away and pretended to look at something else.

 

"I believe Naruto has feelings for you." Kakashi stated, nose stuck in his usual orange book.

"In what sense?" The Uchiha asked.

"You know, boys liking girls and girls liking boys, that stuff."

"I don't understand how that's important."

"Well, it will be easier for you when you decide to have a family in the future," Sasuke remained silent at this before he continued, "do you now understand how a man and a woman have children?"

"A little..."

"Well, that's what you need to do."

"But with Naruto? Isn't he just a friend?" Sasuke heard a whine from her friend behind her.

"Your feelings grow over time."

 

Sasuke gave a nod as she continued walking.

 

The blonde jinchuriki felt a poke on his shoulder, he looked up and saw Sakura next to him.

 

"Hey, Naruto," she whispered, "how do you think people will react to finding out that Sasuke's a girl?" The pinkette was genuinely concerned about the raven as she now didn't have anymore feelings for the girl she thought was a boy.

"...I don't know," he admitted, "but if anyone tries to hurt her, I'll make sure they won't get away with it. Believe it!"

"Naruto, people won't easily believe this new information and some other genin may start to pick on her."

"No they won't, not while I'm with her." 

 

* * *

 

 Sasuke sat upright in a seat besides the door to the Hokage's office. She could hear the faint discussion of Kakashi, the Hokage, the elders and the other man with a scar in the shape of an 'x' on his chin. She recognised him as Danzo Shimura, the leader of the ANBU Black Ops. She flinched when she heard the conversation raise in volume, she could only presume that the cat was out of the bag and the ones with high authority reacted in a negative way. 

 

She had never been so nervous in her twelve years of existence about a talk in the other room. She felt really scared, the rest of her life was going to be the Hokage's decision.

 

 _'Am I going to be like those women who always get pregnant? Will I stay a ninja? Will I be kicked out of the village or just become a prisoner?'_ Sasuke thought frantically, all the pros and cons of having her gender revealed were filling up her mind in what could be an unhealthy manner.

 

"Sasuke," the said girl snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to face her silver haired teacher who was looking at her with a comforting look to reassure her, "you can come on in," She hesitantly stood up and took in a deep breath, beginning to step closer to the door before backing out in fear. Kakashi could feel the pressure of anxiety just by looking at the Uchiha and he understood that she was scared, he held out his hand to Sasuke, "I'll be right besides you. If you get nervous, just hold my hand."

 

Sasuke bit her lip before thinking  _'fuck it,'_ and took hold of Kakashi's hand. He didn't break his word; the jōnin stayed beside her on her right and once she stood in front of the desk, she decided to let go of his hand.

 

The raven saw the aged man sitting at his desk with the elders, Danzo and other shinobi in the room. She remembered sometimes seeing Danzo when Itachi came home from his Anbu missions.

 

"Sasuke Uchiha," he began with a projected voice, one that would've made Sasuke hug herself in fear, "Kakashi has just told me that you are not really a boy, is that correct?"

"Y-yes sir." She mentally slapped herself for stuttering. She was supposed to be brave, not some coward.

"Your father was the one who kept this a secret?"

"Yes sir..." Sasuke felt a bead of sweat running down her forehead, despite the ninja headband being supposed to absorb sweat.

"And you continued to keep it a secret because you were afraid of people finding out, right?" The Hokage questioned with such accuracy, Sasuke was tempted to hold Kakashi's hand again.

"Yes..." 

 

She gave a shy glance towards Kakashi before looking at the Hokage, it was as if time was slowing down and that the answer was about to come out of his mouth but the universe just wasn't allowing it. Her breath started picking up the pace as she felt more beads of sweat run down her forehead.

 

"You must know this, Sasuke, that hiding something important as this is forgery." The Hokage spoke with a stern tone.

"Yes, I understand, but my father was the one who did that-"

"But once your family was murdered, you continued to hide it from the public." Danzo informed, sounding a lot like her father when he was lecturing Itachi. Other than that, Sasuke breath kept picking up and she was on the verge of a panic attack, it was only Kakashi's hand on her left shoulder that kept her from breaking down right then and there.

"..." Her breath began slowing into a calmer pace but she didn't feel like responding to that question.

"Hiruzen, I believe we must act now. The girl may seem young but if it happens now, she will quickly rebuild the Uchiha clan with some of the Leaf's best shinobi and it may continue for a certain amount of years."

 

At Danzo's sentence, Sasuke's eyes widened in fear and she took a step back as she began hyperventilating, her hand unable to reach for Kakashi's. The hand on her shoulder grew firm as it pulled the girl closer to her teacher as he stepped in front of her.

 

"She is only a child, Danzo. Sasuke's not old enough for that, she's only 12. With the state she's currently in, it would only make her mental health worse than it already is." This surprised Sasuke. Kakashi was standing up for her and it didn't feel like how he protected the team in the Land of Waves, it felt... So much different. She felt his hand swiftly moving from her shoulder to the front of her hand which she immediately took.

"Kakashi is right, Danzo," the Hokage agreed with the jōnin, "she is far too young. She should make her own decision when she's older and has a better understanding of the situation," he looked at the raven, "Sasuke, I will discuss with the council about this. The decision I will make will change a lot but I will also make sure that nothing you deem natural in your life changes too much, I hope everyone will treat you normally."

 

Sasuke felt a small smile bless her cheeks and she bowed, entirely grateful.

 

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Her voice cracked as she spoke before she and Kakashi walked out of the room.

"Are you feeling alright?" The jōnin asked as he shut the door and was grateful that the girl gave a nod, "you were really brave despite the circumstances."

"...I guess I was..." She responded while rubbing one of her cheeks, she hasn't smiled properly for five years and her cheeks were aching.

"Was that as bad as you thought?" Kakashi asked with what seemed to be a smile behind his mask as the duo began walking

"No... It was alright..." She smiled happily, happiness was one of the few emotions that she felt ever since her clan massacre.

 

Kakashi looked down at the girl with sympathy when he thought about what Danzo had said. The silver haired man had always hated the idea of rape, especially if it happened to a child. Although he had his fair share of hatred to the act, it had happened to him once when he was Sasuke's age.

 

He avoided her gaze when she turned her head to face him. Sasuke then broke the silence.

 

"My Sharingan awoke back at the Land of Waves; you're going to train me, right?" She asked to confirm.

"Of course, a promise is a promise," he nodded, "but if something occurs, then I will have to stop teaching you," Sasuke scowled at the fact before feeling his hand on her hair, "don't worry too much, Sasuke, stress doesn't make someone's life easier. Now, do you want to go eat something while we for the Hokage's decision?" At that moment, Sasuke's scowl faded into the usual line for a mouth on her face.

"Alright, I didn't eat anyway." It's not like she couldn't spend some time around her teacher, besides she needed to be around someone.

 

* * *

 

Ramen didn't make Sasuke hungry and she wasn't fond of sweets as much as Sakura so she was glad that Kakashi considered getting her something that made her feel at ease by taking her to a restaurant that serves one of the girl's favourite foods.

 

The teacher and the student sat by an open window to cool down the food they would received.

 

She blew the spoon to cool down the soup it had faster, mixed with a couple of tomatoes, before putting it to her mouth.

 

"I take it you're enjoying your miso soup." Kakashi spoke, holding a spoon while waiting for his ordered dish.

"I guess, I mean I've always preferred tomatoes and spicy foods over other things. I didn't think that my order would be a strange combination because tomatoes are pretty tasty." She responded.

"Well, I'm pretty fond of miso soup with eggplant," he smiled behind his mask, "not to mention that I hate sweet things like you do."

"How does our preferences of food make us alike?" Sasuke questioned while chewing a tomato in her mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." The jōnin instructed.

"..." She spoke no words, swallowing the fruit before making a face directed at Kakashi.

 

"Here's your order," a waiter spoke while placing a bowl of miso soup in front of Kakashi, "sorry you had to wait for a while."

"There's nothing wrong with that, thanks anyway," The waiter left and Kakashi had reached for the spoon and his mask before noticing Sasuke's intense stare that almost made him jump, "uhh... Yes?"

"What?"

"You're staring at me."

"N-nothing's wrong, it's just... I tasted a burnt tomato." She quickly explained, she wasn't exactly lying though. One of the tomatoes did feel a bit crunchy.

"Okay..." 

 

Sasuke looked back at her teacher again, her heart beating rapidly as she watched the mask being pulled down and...

 

"Thanks for the food." He spoke up. Sasuke blinked twice. She saw his mask being pulled down and before she was even aware of it, it was back in its usual place. Kakashi's face wasn't even visible to her eyes for a second. She looked at his bowl, her eyes widening at its empty state.

"How the..." 

"Is something wrong, Sasuke?"

"Ugh, forget it." She muttered as she slumped back on the chair connected to the wall. She's got other things to worry about.

"Your bowl is practically full." She looked at her soup, the only thing that wasn't there was the tomatoes.

"I just lost my appetite."

"Your worried about the Hokage's decision, aren't you?"

"..."

"Sasuke, you don't have to be so worried-"

"What the hell do you mean?" Sasuke interrupted, "just one decision will change my life forever, how can I not be worried? My anxiety would kill me if it could."

 

The girl laid down her head on her arms and tried to catch her breath. She wanted to cry, shout and scream all at once. Sasuke didn't want to change much of anything.

 

Kakashi went over to Sasuke's side and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

 

"Change is not always an easy thing to accept but it gets easier when you know people will always be by your side to help you." 

"But what if it's the one that will ruin my life?" She pouted while looking up at him with just her eyes and not moving her head at all, unintentionally giving him the most adorable eyes he had ever seen. It took every muscle of Kakashi's system to not break his normal chilled persona.

"I'll still be by your side, so will Naruto and Sakura." He smiled with his eyes but inside his head was,  _'I MUST PROTECT HER!'_

 

Sasuke turned her head to the window and watched as an ANBU with an owl mask jumped onto the sill.

 

"Kakashi Hatake?" The owl spoke.

"Yes? What is it?"

"It's about the Hokage's choice regarding Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke straightened her posture to listen with more awareness, "he made his decision."

"What was it?"

"He will leave the girl as she is now and nothing extreme will be changed, he has decided to announce it to the public so they will be aware of the change," the ANBU looked at Sasuke, "he said that it will be normal for you once people know, Uchiha."

 

Kakashi frowned behind his mask, announcing it to the public would only put Sasuke in more danger if she's not only known as 'The Last Uchiha.' She'd only become a target in the eyes of perverts and human trafficking. He glanced at the girl and saw how expression didn't change much, telling him that she wasn't aware of the entire negative side of the choice.

 

"Well, that's his decision."

"He wants Sasuke to be at the tower when he announces it at 1:35." The owl informed.

"It's already 1:20... Alright, we'll be there."

"Good to know." The ANBU stated as he jumped away.

 

"..." Kakashi sighed, "well, we might as well get moving if you're not going to finish the broth." He looked at the girl and she gave him a nod as she stood up. Kakashi quickly paid and left the money on the table before walking out the building with Sasuke in tow. He saw her blank face of worry, "Sasuke, I told you, I'll be by your side."

"Right, I'm just thinking," she answered while taking a pause, "what would've happened if they went with the  _other_ option?" Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't think about what would've happened, you have to think of the bright side, understand?" He said, waiting for Sasuke to give him a sign that she was pleased with the outcome of the decision. Sasuke couldn't help but give a small smile when Kakashi began to tickle her neck by wriggling his fingertips close to her skin.

"Alright, alright! I understand!" She almost laughed before familiar sound filled her ears.

 

"Sasuke! Kakashi-Sensei!"

"Naruto?" The blonde run closer with Sakura trailing behind him.

"How'd... it... go?" Naruto asked between breaths.

"It went well."

"What'd he say? What'd he say?" It was as if Naruto hadn't been out of breath a second ago.

"... he's going announce it to the entire village..." Sasuke looked at the ground in concern, still unsure of what everyone else's reactions would be, "he said that after people know, it will be normal for me."

 

Naruto smiled and hugged Sasuke tightly.

 

"I knew you were gonna be alright!"

"NARUTO!" An angry yell from a particular blonde pre-teen girl who used to be friends with Sakura surprised everyone, "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF SASUKE!"

 

Nobody expected the sudden kick to Naruto's temple, immediately knocking him out.

 

"AGH!" Sakura cried out as a reflex.

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried out in shock, before feeling arms surrounding her torso "huh-!"

"Oh Sasuke~" 

"Ino! Let me go!" She struggled to pull the arms off her.

 

Despite what was going to happen soon, the Uchiha still felt vulnerable whenever something ended up touching her chest and abdomen ever since the day Naruto found out.

 

"Sasuke, why do you feel squishy?" Ino asked as she started pressing her fingers onto the raven's developing breasts, making her bite her lip uncomfortably.

"Ino, let her go!" Sakura yelled.

"Make me, Billboard-Br- 'her'?" The Yamanaka girl repeated in confusion.

"You heard me!" Sakura took the advantage of the situation to quickly grab Sasuke and pull her out of the other girl's grasp, "you alright, Sasuke?"

"B-but... Sasuke's not a girl! He's a boy!" 

"Well,  _she's_ not." The pinkette retorted as she began to dust off Sasuke's shirt.

"Sakura, I'm fine." The noirette tried pulling Sakura's hands off her.

"B... But-!" Ino snapped out of her confused daze into an angry look, "you're just making this up Billboard Brow! Lying to me about Sasuke's gender just so you could keep him all to yourself is the oldest and lamest trick in the book," quick to avoid Sakura's punch, Ino turned over to Sasuke, "isn't that right, Sasuke~?"

"Actually, Ino, she's right," The Uchiha explained in a slightly nervous manner, "I was never a boy. I'm really a girl."

"...but... What about all the teachers and students calling you a boy? Y-you were the best boy in our class!"

"Well, my parents decided to keep it from the village and they gave me boy clothes."

"But what about your skills? They rivaled every other boy in the academy!"

"So? A girl can be better than a boy in terms of ninjutsu, taijutsu and g-genjutsu." Sasuke almost faltered her words when she came down to the mention of genjutsu.

"A-and you're the hottest and cutest boy in the entire academy!"

"I have no explanation for that... I guess it was just genetics..."

 

"What's going on, Ino?" Shikamaru asked in his usual sarcastic tone as he appeared with Choji.

"Yeah, we heard something about Sasuke being a boy." Choji stated.

"Face it, Ino. We both lost, Sasuke's not a boy so we both lose," Sakura explained with her arms crossed over her chest, "we ended our friendship for a dumb reason, I want us to start over and..." The girl then noticed Ino's impassive expression, "...Ino?"

"WAHHHHH!!! THIS CAN'T BE REAL! SASUKE CAN'T BE A GIRL!" The female blonde screamed while running off into the distance.

"INO!" Sakura yelled, not taking long to leg it to try and catch up with the blonde.

 

Sasuke looked at Naruto's fallen body, she walked to his side and sat besides him. Kakashi quickly checked and told her that Naruto would wake up in a minute or two.

 

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a look of disappointment, but really her heart was pounding at the thought of him waking up and smiling. Of course, Naruto's just a loser to her.

 

Why does her chest burn every time he's around?

 

"Ngh... Sasuke?..." The question made her cheeks transition to pink.

"Loser... You got knocked out too easily."

"Ehh! I did?!"

"...loser..."

"Stop calling me loser, bastard!" Sasuke gave a small smirk at Naruto's childish attempt to make her shut up.

"Loser." She whispered playfully, almost snickering when Naruto groaned in frustration.

"Bastard!"

"Loser."

"Bastard!"

 

Sasuke decided to smirk before she put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

 

"Just stop, you're getting annoying, loser."

"Hey Sasuke, what was that about you being a boy?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh, I'm not."

"..."

"I am a girl-"

"Alright."

"What?..."

"I said alright, if you're a girl then you're a girl."

"...thanks..." She spoke blandly, of course Shikamaru wouldn't care at all. She remembered her father having meetings with the parents of Shikamaru, Choji and Ino and they had left their kids with the young girl. She was more used to the lazy Nara boy than a fangirl and a boy who kept stuffing his face with food.

 

Kakashi looked up and saw people gathering to where the Hokage would make announcements.

 

"Let's go, Sasuke." He informed, Sasuke looked to him before realising what he meant. Nervousness clawed at her stomach as the anxiety began poisoning her mind with negative thoughts, so much so that she didn't register that touch of someone else's hand in her own.

 

She turned her head and saw Naruto looking at the direction of the stone faces as he gently rubbed his thumb over her hand.

 

"When I become Hokage, I'll make sure nobody ever does anything  against you." He vowed, making another red blush invade Sasuke's pale skin.

"...you can let go of my hand now..."

 

* * *

 

Kakashi began walking over to the training area where the stone with all the people who died as heroes were.

 

He will admit that he did get protective when Sasuke started getting a panic attack at the Land of Waves but he didn't expect himself to get entirely defensive for the girl when Danzo suggested making Sasuke a child prostitute who makes babies for the rest of her life.

 

Maybe it was the fact that it was because he had experienced the sensitive topic after Obito and Rin's deaths. 

 

With the Sharingan eye giving Kakashi the ability to memorize anything he sees and keep it locked in his mind, he could remember everything in perfect detail. He could still remember how it felt to be immobilised, to be under someone else's body, how it felt when...

 

The silver haired jōnin shuddered at the memory and shut his book, stopping his walk momentarily. He took in 5 deep breaths, his body calming down at the fifth as the memory began to drift away from his main thoughts and remembered that was no longer in that situation anymore and was safe in the Hidden Leaf. Content, Kakashi reopened his book and continued his walk. He looked up when he saw green patches turn into a bunch and saw the familiar outlines of Naruto and Sasuke's bodies.

 

As he stepped closer, he picked up the sounds of a conversation going on and he quickly hid behind a tree.

 

"...it felt like air was being kept away from my lungs as the Hokage announced it." Sasuke's voice reached his ears, it sounded shaky as if emotion was about to overwhelm her.

"Well, it's over now." Naruto tried to cheer her up.

"Some people told me to prove it... Even take my clothes off..." The girl sounded afraid and confused all at once, "why?"

"...I don't know..." That answer made Sasuke place her head on her knees, "but you and I will be together, won't we?!"

"What does that mean?"

 

Kakashi sneaked a glance as he watched as Naruto pulled out a flower from nowhere in particular and held it out for Sasuke.

 

"A cherry blossom?" Sasuke said after a small pause, sounding disappointed with jealousy, "this is for Sakura."

"What? No, it isn't. It's for you!"

"You could've got me something better."

"Like what?"

"Like your kunai."

 

Sasuke held out the kunai with the string around it's ring and Naruto blushed.

 

"Oh... Oops."

"Loser..."

"Hey!"

"That means, 'try harder'."

"What would you like? Another kunai, paper bomb?"

"Where would you find a paper bomb?"

"You actually want one?"

"Probably, but I could ask anyone to get me one so... W-why would I ask you?"

"Uhh..."

"It's not like I like you, loser..."

 

Their voices died down as Kakashi walked further from his destination, wanting to leave the duo in privacy.

 

Even he ships it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon: Sasuke has a tickle spot at the very back of the neck


	7. He Hit Her Tenkestu... And Her Heart

Sasuke felt herself smirking at some of Naruto's misfortunes when he messed up on a mission, she even ended up having to save his life when he almost fell off a waterfall.  _'why were we even walking dogs next to a minefield?'_ She thought as she and Sakura carried Naruto.

 

Speaking of Sakura, she has now been treating Sasuke properly and gave her space to settle down in the uncomfortable aura of the village ever since the villagers were now aware of her gender but she has popped in at her place to check on the raven. In fact, it was like she was trying to get closer to her as a friend but Sasuke will admit that it was better than how she always acted before.

 

When Sakura and Naruto separated from her, Sasuke sighed in irritation as they followed some kids but as she began practicing her chakra sensing, which was getting better, she then felt a sudden change that felt way too unsettling. She could feel Naruto's chakra becoming unsteady, that just gave a hint to Sasuke that both Naruto and Sakura were about to get into trouble and she owes them for sticking up for her when ever people tried confronting her.

 

She began running to where Naruto was, grabbing two stones before jumping onto some roofs and a branch to where Naruto, Sakura and some kids were. Her eyes widened as she saw an older boy getting ready to punch that kid Naruto hangs out with, instinctively, she threw one of the stones at the boy's arm, cutting him and making him lose his grip on the child.

 

"You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league," she stated as the boy in the black got up and scowled at her.

"Oh great, another wimp to tick me off." Sasuke looked more closely at the symbol and saw that he's from the Suna village. A little pissed at his sentence, she crumpled the stone in her hand to dust.

"Get lost."

"Hey punk, get down here," he demanded, only for Sasuke to stay where she was, "you're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most, all attitude and nothing to back it up."

 

"Hey shut up! Sasuke's stronger than you think, she could beat you up at anytime!" Her blonde companion yelled to defend her.

"Ah, so your the girl who was pretending to be a boy, now that's pretty cowardly even for you." Now that got under Sasuke's skin.

"Are you looking for a fight?" She dared with a sour tone in her voice.

"Not unless you want to." The boy suggested as he reached for the bag of bandages wrapped over his back.

 

Stealthly, Sasuke pulled out a kunai and held it with an iron grasp. Just as she was about to stand up, a voice filled her ears.

 

"Kankuro, back off. You're a disgrace to our village." A male voice spoke with no sense of emotion, it could've rivaled Sasuke bland voice when she wasn't in the mood to empathize with anyone.

 

A small shiver ran through the girl's spine,  _'how did I not sense him? That kind of skill is something that jōnin like Kakashi has.'_

 

To be  _that_ smooth was slightly unnerving as she finally got a good look of the boy that remained undetected until his earlier comment. Red hair the colour of blood; teal green eyes surrounded by large bags that stared into her soul and a red kanji on his forehead that said love despite the boy having a glare that not even a mother would love, was the kanji a scar?

 

The Uchiha girl gave a small gulp before the boy began to speak up.

 

"Sorry about that." He said as sand engulfed him and transported him to the ground. The redhead turned to his teammates, scaring his comrades without doing much of anything and began walking off before Sakura objected to why they were in the village, making the blonde girl turn around and scoff.

 

"We are Suna Genin and we come from the Land of Wind, we're in the village to take the Chunin Exams." She sneered with her green eyes flashing. 

 

Sasuke slightly tilted her head at the mention of the name, she remember how Itachi graduated from genin to chunin at a young age but he wasn't the youngest, _'Wasn't there a genin that became a chunin at the age of six?'_

Getting curious about the red haired boy, Sasuke jumped down from the tree in front of her team and stood upright.

 

"Wait. The one with the gourd, what's your name?" She asked, raven eyes locked with teal eyes.

"Sabaku no Gaara..." The Uchiha translated the first part to 'of the desert', "I have an interest in you too. Your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha..."

 

Tension ran through the air as the two teens glared each other down, until Naruto opened his big mouth and made the team flee. Sasuke rolled her eyes in irritation at the two comrades she trusted for keeping her from learning more about these guys. But the Chunin Exams...

 

"Well those guys are weird, not even wanting to get to know me." Naruto muttered from behind the Uchiha to his kid friends.

"Not everything focuses on you, Naruto." Sakura pointed out before punching Naruto and the annoying kid on their heads.

"OWW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" The kid yelled at her.

"That was for calling me ugly!" 

"Sakura," Sasuke called out with her back still turned to her team, making the pinkette freeze in her tracks, "you need to stop hitting Naruto."

"O-oh! Right, I'll try to restrain myself." Sakura chuckled.

"You mean you  _will_ restrain yourself, also stop hitting children. We need to go anyway," The Uchiha turned to look over to her team, "let's go."

 

She continued her walk with Sakura and Naruto on her tail, hearing the blonde complain about that red haired boy and how he'll impress him.

 

* * *

 

The application form she received from Kakashi was signed and she was now waiting with Naruto for Sakura so they could go inside the building where the first part of the Chunin Exams were being held. The pinkette had managed to make it on time but anyone as dumb as Naruto (except Naruto of course) could tell that she was a bit frazzled, Sasuke could only assume that she had been attacked by a ninja too.

 

Sasuke wasn't too bothered about being attacked by the ninja, her skills in identifying chakra gave her the advantage of figuring out that it was Iruka all along. Whatever he was doing yesterday got on her nerves.

 

After having a small chat with the girl to ease her, Sasuke couldn't help but listen to Sakura chat about her parents and Naruto becoming Hokage, which were both irritating her.

 

 _'It was humorous first time, now it's just annoying.'_ she thought while being the first to walk through the doors and up the stairs, not expecting the sound of an argument being heard up ahead. 

 

The raven could easily tell the difference between reality or genjutsu cause of practice, so she could see that she was on the second floor rather than third.

 

"...Many times, have we seen people quit shinobi, as well as people who were disabled for life, just because they took this exam." Sasuke heard one boy say as he and another blocked the doorway to the wrong room. The same boy glared down at an older girl with twin buns in her hair, "what's wrong with weeding out the ones that won't pass?"

"A just argument." Sasuke blurted out, "however, you will let me through. And, may you at least undo the barrier created with genjutsu? I have business on the third floor."

"You noticed that quickly?"

"So have my teammates." She stated.

"All you've done is catch on." The boy said before throwing an attack at her. Sasuke got prepared to deflect it but a green flashed grabbed her ankle and stopped her as well as the attempted attack.

 

 _'What the...'_ The raven was not only confused about the chakra and speed of this other boy but his eyebrows made her feel like they would crawl off. The boy, introducing himself as Rock Lee, turned to Sakura and proceeded to make her uncomfortable by asking her out,  _'now you know how I felt, Sakura.'_

 

"Hey, you there," a voice spoke. Sasuke internally groaned at having to introduce herself to so many people and made her decision to snap at whoever was behind her, she turned around and saw a boy with long, silky brown hair and pale pupil-less eyes, "Identify yourself."

 

Sasuke couldn't move, this boy... It was like he had her in a trance, _'why is this boy surrounded by stars?'_  She thought in a panic as she thought about the possibility of being stuck in a genjutsu,  _'this better not be a genjutsu!'_ Her heart was beating like crazy and her breath was getting faster, she couldn't tell if this was another panic attack.

 

"...ke. Sasuke!" Fingers snapped in front of her face, she turned to look at Sakura, "the guy's waiting for you to reply." She pointed a thumb at the boy, he was a Hyūga. She quickly remembered what he asked her and grew defensive

"...Shouldn't people address themselves first before asking for other people's names?" She said after regaining her composure.

"What?" He started, getting interrupted by a small giggle from his teammate, "quiet, Tenten." Sasuke considered taking her team to the actual floor for just a moment but looking at this boy made her get distracted and her mouth began moving without her thinking of it.

"I-I'm Sasuke Uchiha." She stuttered for a moment and cursed herself for answering the boy's question and for sounding so meek.

"So you _are_ the last Uchiha in the village? Not much as what I expected from a powerful clan. Almost extinct, too." The brunette stated rudely, making Naruto and Sakura step away from their Uchiha teammate as they only saw her eyes flare up and they could already sense her dark urge to defend her clan.

"...Tch! You're one to talk seeing as you don't seem like an elite from the Hyūga." She muttered audibly for him to hear, her cheeks remaining red.

"Excuse me?" He responded with angered eyes, stepping a bit closer to give an intimidating demeanor.

"I'm not repeating myself." Said the girl as she stood her ground while her teammates didn't.

"You're talking to a member of the Hyūga Clan."

"Well, you don't act like one." She  almost broke her emotionless facade to give a smirk when his eyebrows furrowed further and his frown turned into a scowl.

"Why I ought to-" He began to raise his hand at a speed that would've made Sasuke flinch if she wasn't so fearless but even people like her have their fears.

"What? Kill me? I don't think that Konoha will want their last hope for the Uchiha dead. And I doubt they will go lightly on the one who killed her."

 

The teen's glared each other down, the heatwave of the anger and the pride was felt across the entire room but the two were soon taken apart by their team. Both of them looked back to face the other while Team 7 walked away through the hallway and once she turned a corner and was at the perfect distance for them to not be heard, Sasuke let out a breath that she didn't remember holding in.

 

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I... I'm fine..." Sasuke put a hand on her chest, her heart was still pumping at what seemed like an abnormal pace.

 

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other, the pinkette agreeing that Sasuke had just gotten her first crush. Naruto just thought it was the start of another rivalry.

 

* * *

 

The written exams were nothing important to Sasuke, she thought it was a miracle that Naruto didn't give up and make the whole team fail but she wasn't in the mood to contemplate over it. It was just a dumb paper. What she  _could_ contemplate on was how their newly acquired accomplice, Kabuto Yakushi, was a bit too close with her group.

 

 _'Why would he willing give me and the other teams information about the possible opponents we may fight?'_ Sasuke thought to herself with a frown. Kabuto gave her a strange vibe, like she shouldn't trust him with glasses that magnify beady eyes that could even fool the investigators and  deathly white pearls that shine in a spotlight.

 

But she couldn't focus on that grey haired nerd now that they were in the Forest of Death and after so many fights, the day had come to an end. She didn't expect her teammates to get a Heaven scroll first time but the Uchiha thought that she could do it but the thoughts of that Hyūga boy kept distracting her.

 

Sasuke looked down at Naruto and Sakura, who had fallen into a deep sleep that seemed neverending. They were battered and tired out, it was Naruto who saved Sasuke this time with his whole body smelling putrid with snake fluids and Sakura... All she did was cut her hair from what she heard from Ino.

 

Sasuke rubbed the side of her neck, that bite mark was a little painful but she tried ignoring it and failed miserably.

 

The raven reached forward and grabbed the Earth scroll and placed it in her pocket before grabbing a bag. _'Some hunting will clear my mind.'_  she thought. If tomorrow was coming soon, then both she and her team would be hungry for breakfast.

 

Sasuke sensed chakra everywhere but they belonged to animals. She did have an appreciation for birds so she wasn't going to eat that, some fish probably, or maybe a rabbit. The memory of saving a bird one time with Itachi almost came to her mind but she quickly drove it away when she remembered overhearing a comment from her father that stated she was becoming more like a girl. She took that statement to heart and tried doing activities that boys enjoyed, if you're thinking she hated them, you're half right. She enjoyed the few activities that were pleasant, if was just the people that bothered her.

 

Shaking her head, Sasuke walked closer to a nearby stream with plenty of fish in its waters. Once reaching the bank, she didn't hesitate to pull out her kunais and throw them at the water. She quickly wiped some parts of water of her face and arms that splashed onto her when she threw the kunai before stepping into the cool liquid. Only two of her kunai stabbed fish while the other just stood dead and upright with nothing held to the rocks.

 

"There's more fish up stream." A sudden voice spoke.

"Wah!" Sasuke cried as she fell into the water, drenching her clothes. She sat up and looked around, seeing it was the boy she had argued with in the hallway, "oh fuck, it's you."

"..."

"What do you want? We already had your teammate help mine but we don't own you any favors." She snapped.

"I wasn't going to ask for your help." He stated, making Sasuke scoff.

"Well what are you here for?"

"Hunting, same as you," he responded before stepping into the water, "I never properly introduced myself, I'm Neji Hyūga. When I saw the clan symbol on your back, I just had to know what I may be up against. I had heard of a girl pretending to be a boy but I wasn't expecting her to be you."

 

Sasuke growled while she tried standing up but only tripped over her clean kunai. She wiped a hand over her eyes in an attempt to dry them and clear her vision, seeing Neji holding out his hand to help her up but Sasuke declined the offer by smacking his hand away.

 

"If you've got a problem with what I did, then leave me alone. That has nothing to do with you." Sasuke pushed herself back up on her feet and was this time successful.

"Forgive me if I'm offending you, I just want to get to know you."

"Like hell. I'm not going to let you become my 'friend' after you insulted me and my clan."

"We just got off on the wrong foot-"

"Just get out of my sight, you ass." She snapped, kicking water in his direction.

 

Neji instantly stepped away to avoid the childish attack. He rolled his eyes before pushing her down into the water the same way she did to Naruto in the Land of Waves with her landing face first into the water. She pulled out her head as she took in an enraged, deep breath as he got back onto the bank and walked off.

 

"You may want to get out of the water, it's a little colder at night." He sneered before disappearing with his back still turned to the Uchiha

 

As Sasuke stepped out of the stream, a wave of shivers over came her.

 

_'Fuck, he was right!'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Sasuke is afraid of a few things that is not her brother, everyone is afraid of something that's pretty normal and my headcanon is that it's normal for villagers and some ninja to be afraid of the techniques ninja use.
> 
> So since Sasuke was in an advanced genjutsu (not saying the name because a friend reviewing this hasn't finished the series) that made her watch her parents die over 5000 times, she's bound to be afraid of genjutsus. Naruto and Sakura just believe that she's fearless since she's good at hiding her fears.


	8. Splashing and Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just the students of Team 7 acting like a family.

Sasuke was still soaked by the time she got back to her team, and they were already awake.

 

"Sasuke! There you are... Uh, what happened?" Sakura asked when she saw the state of her friend's clothes.

"...I went to get us some breakfast but I fell in the water." Her response was extremely hesitant and it didn't seem believable but with the six fish in Sasuke's hand, it was hard not to think that it wasn't true. Sakura's eyes squinted at Sasuke's face, seeing that it was a little flushed and the usual black eyes seemed to be unfocused.

 

As Sasuke placed the fish on a rock and pulled out a kunai with a dazed look, Sakura immediately squealed.

 

"Eek! I knew it, Sasuke! You're in love!" She proclaimed. Sasuke almost cut her hand and Naruto hit his head on a tough wooden branch as he was now wide awake.

 _"What?"_ Both teens asked, as if what they heard was news that Kakashi was finally arriving on time.

"Sasuke's in love!"

 

_"No I'm not!"_

_"With who?"_

 

Again, the blonde and the raven reacted at the same time.

 

"Sasuke, it's obvious. I thought it was a small crush but based on all the signs, you are truly in love! Your face is practically red, which means... You saw him moments ago."

"W-well... I- uh..."

"Oh come on, Sasuke! It's alright to fall in love!"

"I don't love anyone!"

"Who is he? Is it me? Or was it that dude with the long hai-" Naruto began bursting his questions but he only got a punch to the cheek from the Uchiha.

"I said I don't have a crush on anybody so knock it off!"

"OWW! Why must you girls always keep hitting me?!" The blonde cried out in anger.

"If you trained more, then you would learn how to deflect them, loser!"

"I train every day!"

"Then train in your spare time. Try sparring with your clones, after that you can try and fight me."

 

"Hey, Sasuke?" Sakura began, "where's the scroll?"

"Oh right," Sasuke shoved her hand into her pocket, "here you- wait..." Her eyes widened as she didn't feel the scroll in the confined space. She quickly looked through the bag, "...uh oh..."

"Sasuke?"

"I'll be back!" Sasuke turned and began running back to the stream she went to earlier.

 

"Wow, Sasuke lost the scroll- OWW!" Naruto screamed As he got punched by Sakura once more.

"Go and help her, idiot! I'll cook the fish while you're at it." Sakura snarled, she knew that if she left Naruto with the fish, he would've burnt it and Sasuke is still awkward when around other girls and Sakura is just a demonstration to her.

"Oh okay!" The blonde got up and ran to catch up with the Uchiha, leaving Sakura to roll her eyes.

 

Ahead of them, Sasuke kept running. Her hair flowing up and down to the rhythm of the wind, it was getting longer and it would get in the way.

 

Sasuke quickly slammed her heel into the ground when she heard the running sound of water and skidded, leaving a trail in the mud behind her. Her head whipped around from side to side until she saw the scroll symbol gleaming from the almost transparent liquid.

 

"There you are, hn." She muttered to herself. She gently bent over and sunk her hand in to grab the scroll. Her hand was shivering when it was pulled out.

"Hey Sasu- WHOA!" Sasuke turned around in surprise and did not expect a rolling Naruto to collide with her, making them both splash into the water. However, instead of his body, Sasuke met with his lips and then his body pushed her off her feet.

 

She felt so much more cold than she was in the morning. As Naruto flailed to get a breath, his hands scrambled onto her shoulders and squeezed tightly.

 

"Ow! Idiot, get the hell off me!" The raven yelled, "why must I always end up kissing you?!"

"Don't blame me! I just tripped!" Naruto quickly sat up on her waist before getting a familiar feeling when they were on another mission, "oh... Uh, Sasuke? Doesn't this make you remember anything?"

"Huh?..." Sasuke took notice of the water that kept them drenched, "that was before the Chunin Exams..."

"Our hands were glued for two days! So we had to stay next to each other," Naruto smiled before getting up and holding out a hand for her, "I wished that it never ended." Sasuke's head tilted to the side.

"Why?"

"Because I enjoyed your company. When we ate food together, hung out, even showered together."

"I had to knock you out."

"I was awake for one of them."

"You were?!- You stupid, perverted... Dunce!" She yelled after a small pause, she remembered using that nickname when Naruto ended up doing something really stupid that ended in his ass getting handed to him.

 

As Naruto gave a cheesy but nervous smile, Sasuke smacked her hand on the back of his head and shoved it into the water as an attempt to drown him.

 

* * *

 

Sasuke and Naruto came back quicker than Sakura had anticipated. By that time, the pinkette had only managed to cook one fish and place it out on a twig that was sticking out of the ground.

 

"You got the scroll?" She asked, to which Sasuke nodded and presented the scroll before putting it back in her pocket, "great, the other two fish are going to be done soon so either you or Naruto should eat it."

"I'm not hungry." She muttered.

"Wow, you've got it bad." Sakura teased.

"Like I said before, I don't have a crush on anyone," Sasuke growled in irritation, "having any sort of feelings on someone distracts you from your training, it's stupid how people 'fall in love' at, like, the age of seven."

 

Behind the noirette, Naruto got depressed and sat down facing a tree. Speaking of depressed, Sakura looked down towards the floor, saddened at the fact that Sasuke was right.

 

"I see what you mean... that explains why I'm practically useless in every mission." Her hands worked on the fish to distract herself from getting over emotional, "I just do nothing and cry."

"You just have to train more, find any method of being beneficial for our team," Sasuke encouraged, making the pinkette look up at her, "you should consider asking Kakashi to help you when we pass this second exam."

"...Can you - I mean... Is it possible for you to teach me some jutsus? So I can protect you and Naruto when you're in danger again?..." Sakura asked as Sasuke began walking over to a tree.

"Why not?" She said as she jumped onto one of the branches and layed across it.

 

* * *

 

"Concentrate, Sakura. I don't want another Naruto on Team 7." The Uchiha said while facepalming at the sight of Sakura falling on her face after tripping over a rock.

"Hey!" The blonde yelled in offense.

"Jeez, I'm sorry 'Kakashi.Jr', I'm trying!" Sakura muttered.

"Obviously not hard enough," Sasuke stated, walking and picking up the fallen shuriken before walking back to her spot next to Naruto. Sakura scowled as she got up onto her feet, "go again and attempt to avoid the shuriken I throw at you. Think of me as your enemy."

 

The pinkette nodded firmly and prepared herself as Sasuke threw the the first three shuriken. Sakura didn't hesitate to run from the weapons aimed at her but she jumped as her leg got scraped. She flinched, shutting her eyes and almost forgot entirely about the other two shuriken, getting her arm cut too.

 

"Ng!" She whimpered. Sasuke breathed in a sign of frustration.

"Don't shut your eyes! Your enemy won't take pity on you if you cower and give up."

"I'm not giving up!" The pinkette yelled, "try again. Just one more time, Sasuke!"

"Sakura, I can't keep training you. We have to find another Heaven scroll before the deadline."

"Please Sasuke." The noirette looked back to see Sakura's green eyes all beady and shiny.

"Fine. Just one more time. This time, use a kunai to block the shuriken." 

 

Sakura stood upright firmly and patiently waited before Sasuke threw the same amount of shuriken. The loud clash of iron heavily impressed the genin, even Sakura.

 

Her grip tightened on the kunai and she gave a small sound of surprise.

 

"Impressive," Sasuke smirked, making Sakura smile at her with a pink tinge to her cheeks, "but can you deflect six?"

 

Sakura's smile faltered and the raven threw the amount that she suggested. The pinkette struggled to deflect them all, swinging her arm around wildly to hit the other thrown at but ultimately failing as the shuriken scratched her body once again.

 

The girl fell onto her back, groaning at the pain.

 

"Well, that was an improvement but we'll focus on this later," Sasuke walked over to Sakura and sat down next to her, "you can rest for the moment. Me and Naruto will stay with you."

"Then we'll find the scroll together." Naruto smiled a goofy grin while sitting on the other side of Sakura.

"No, it'd be better to split up to cover more ground," Sasuke spoke, "with Sakura injured enough already, she'll need someone to stay with her."

"Oh, right."

"I'll go alone and you stay with Sakura-"

"No, you're not going alone!" Naruto quickly made the familiar hand sign and another Naruto appeared, "there! Told ya!"

"Loser..." She muttered quietly before looking around the trees to spot sight of any enemy ninjas, the raven looked to her right and felt a change of chakra. She could remember it when she encountered that Hyūga boy and it caused her to bite her lip in anger.

"Uhh... Sasuke?"

 

"I'll go right, you and Sakura go left." Sasuke stood up and walked in the other direction, "we'll meet up back here in two hours."

"Hey S-sasuke?" Sakura called out, the Uchiha turned around to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"... thanks." The pinkette gave a smile, causing Sasuke to smile back.

"No problem, don't fight too much. It will leave you weak," Sasuke turned on her heel and resumed her walk, "by the way, we need food for lunch. Whatever animal you catch, take it."

"Right!" The other two called out at the same time.

 

Sasuke couldn't help but think positively about her two partners, they definitely were her friends. In fact, they were her first friends in a long time. She remembered that her very first and closest friend when she was young was... Itachi.

 

The curse mark burned the back of her neck at the mere thought of him, as if those fangs were back to repeatedly pierce the fair skin to a pinkish red.

 

_'why am I thinking of him now? Can't he just stay out of my head for one day?'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll make this clear to my readers: I do not like how Kishimoto presented Sakura while making other female characters seemingly more useful and that has made me dislike her.
> 
> I want to like her but it's impossible with how she is presented so I'm trying my best to make her useful while not changing her too much. This fanfiction may focus on Sasuke and Naruto's relationship but I do want to make other things relevant, such as Sakura.
> 
> And I do have a plan for this fic but it's not full proof so you won't be seeing frequent updates.
> 
> Sorry for the delay.


	9. Secrets, Promises, Ignition and Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 7 finally complete the second exams before the deadline and Naruto finally tells Sasuke about the Nine Tails. 
> 
> And Sakura makes a friend out of a certain redheaded Uzumaki in the Forest of Death.
> 
> Before the preliminaries happen, Anko talks to Sasuke about the cure mark and makes her keep a promise.
> 
> The preliminaries aren't easy when they start but Sasuke's flame of determination to kill Itachi starts to burn brighter and hotter once she sees Byakugan fight between Neji and Hinata.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry to come so late with this chapter but the god damn Writer's Block came back again. Anyways, here is the new chapter and I made it super long to make it up for you guys.

Sasuke swung her kunai at a girl from the Stone, her hair getting cut as she jumped out of the way while holding Naruto. The blonde idiot managed to get himself stuck by falling for a trap when the Heaven Scroll was lying on the ground and even a squirrel found it suspicious. Both Sasuke and Sakura were left infuriated with both Naruto and the girl who held him captive as she kept on avoiding their attacks.

 

The girl's light brown hair danced around and repeatedly whipped Naruto's face, her grey eyes didn't break contact with Sasuke's at all and her sinister smile was decorated with a dimple on each cheek.

 

"Release him this instant." Sasuke demanded.

"Are you that much of a wimp, Uchiha? I thought you'd be more than willing to fight for your boyfriend!" Dimples sneered at Sasuke's annoyance, Naruto blushed at the remark.

"Well hey, was it  _that_ obvio-"

"I asked the girl, not you!" She growled as she slapped a hand over his mouth, causing some pain to Naruto's jaw and even Sakura could see that it was intended.

 

The pinkette swiftly summoned a clone before they both pulled out shuriken, three in both hands, and the one on the left threw out one arm aimed in the direction that the brunette was heading for. Dimples stayed too focused on the Uchiha and she only just registered the shuriken when she felt three jabs in her arm.

 

She had only looked away for a second to see if any vital spots were hit and looked back up to see the clone run up to her and punch her square in the cheek.

 

Naruto felt her grip loosen when she stepped back to regain balance and he found his chance to bite down on her hand, making her let go of him as a reflex.

 

Sasuke ran up and managed to catch Naruto in her arms as the real Sakura threw another punch to her opponent. Dimples fell to the muddy ground and glared up at Sakura before giving a smile that confused Team 7.

 

She slowly raised her hand and made the snake hand sign. Sasuke's eyes widened in realisation and swirled around until they caught sight of an explosive tag right on Sakura's back.

 

"SAKURA! ON YOUR BACK!" She cried out. The addressed girl quickly looked behind her, pulled the tag and swung it into the air but at that moment, the tag had exploded.

" **SAKURA!** " Naruto screamed, reaching out but only grabbing nothing.

 

Sasuke couldn't see any chance of saving all three of them at once and could only hope that Sakura managed to escape the blast. But even as she tried to slip away with the blonde, the force of the explosion knocked them into a tree; Sasuke's head came into contact with the wood and instantly knocked her out.

 

* * *

 

_Sasuke knocked on the apartment door that she was told to go to the day after yesterday when the Hokage told the village about her gender._

_Her team had just finished a simple D-rank mission of helping at an inn, she and Sakura did get harassed by some men for a moment, but the mission went without a flaw (if you excluded Naruto being annoyed with the mission being D-rank)._

_She looked around the apartment, watching as the day grew dark until the door opened. She didn't see Kurenai but saw Team 10's sensei instead._

_"Sasuke?!" Asuma almost yelled in surprise._

_"Asuma? What are you doing here?" She asked, getting suspicious when the man before her started sweating profoundly._

_"W-well, I was just..."_

_"Asuma, what is it?" Kurenai asked as she went to the doorway, "oh, hello Sasuke. I believe you're hear to ask me some questions, right?"_

_"Yeah, that's right." The Uchiha answered._

_"I was expecting you to arrive earlier, Kakashi did tell me that you might come to my place if you needed some answers, and not just about techniques for Genjustu. From what I've heard, you don't use it very often," the red eyed woman smiled, "come inside and wait on the couch, I'll be there in a moment."_

_Sasuke nodded before walking into the apartment, it was completely organised as expected of a jōnin. After taking a seat on the couch, Kurenai came back in._

 

_"So what brings you here, Sasuke?" She asked with a kind smile._

_"Well, Kakashi told me to come to you if I ever needed advice about- quote on quote 'birds and the bees' - while being a kunoichi." She replied._

_"Kakashi did tell me that you might come here since you seem stubborn when it comes to hospitals. I am impressed with how long you managed hide your gender but I never thought that there were people like you were still in the village," she stopped talking when she saw the Uchiha staring at her, Kurenai then sat down next to the girl, "anywho, how about you tell me what's troubling you?"_

_"Wait. You mean that there were others?" Sasuke asked._

_"Ah, well... Back in the past, it was much more difficult for each gender since they had expectations: men were expected to fight and protect their village but women were expected to stay at home, cook and clean and tend to the children or gain money by doing favours for men." Kurenai spoke softly on the last part, not wanting to be blunt about the fact that women become prostitutes either willingly or by force._

_"That's very pathetic."_

_"Exactly. That's why people decided to hide their gender, pretending to be the other and there are still people who do so outside villages," seeing as Sasuke was bewildered at the moment, Kurenai quickly drifted the topic to the reason why the Uchiha was here, "now Sasuke, you were told the process of making babies, right?"_

_"Yes, Sakura told me a bit of it on our first A-Rank mission but what I was told seemed... Gross."_

_"Other people have their opinions on this kind of topic so you shouldn't be worried about how people will take your opinion."_

_"I'm not worried."_

_"Well that's good for you."_

 

* * *

 

 

 The blonde jinchuriki felt helpless and weak while tied up to Sasuke, their backs facing eachother.

 

Naruto then felt Sasuke stir behind him as she woke up from her forced sleep. Even though her vision was still adjusting to the darkened forest, they still caught sight of the ropes that kept her and Naruto bound and tied up.

 

"Ugh... Ouch..." The girl began to squirm until she felt a pain in her leg that caused her to stop before Naruto spoke up.

"Hey." He muttered as Sasuke raised her leg slightly to see a darkened bruise.

"....Naruto?... N-Naruto, where's Sakura?" She stuttered momentarily when she remembered about the girl.

"I... I don't know. I couldn't tell if she actually did make it out of that blast..."

"Shit," Sasuke slammed a loose fist onto the ground, "hopefully she got away."

"Got away? Sasuke, she's probably dead!" Naruto retorted with a crack lingering in his throat. Sasuke grew surprised, Naruto is always optimistic and he would never give up so easily but this attitude wasn't foreign to her,

"Naru-"

"She was too close to it, there's no way Sakura would survive that!"

"Naruto."

"When I get out of here, I am gonna kill that bitch and then I'm gonna kill her team-"

"Naruto, shut up for one minute!" Sasuke yelled, "listen, Sakura is intelligent, probably more than us two combined but fighting that... Bitch of a ninja doesn't mean she would've forgotten about her smarts. Not only that... She has great chakra control. What I'm trying to say is that Sakura may have gotten away."

"Yeah right, hopefully she's alive(!)" He groaned disheartenedly.

"Naruto-"

"Just how are you being so calm at the moment? Aren't you mad that Sakura could be dead?" 

 

Sasuke didn't know how to answer that question. Of course she was  _enraged_ -mad was an understatement - it's just that she didn't want to believe that she had lost someone close to her again.  _'I grew attached to her... To Naruto and Kakashi too. I forgot about what happens if you get too attached to people... Their deaths hurt you more than your own.'_

 

"Sasuke! Answer me! Why are you so calm?!"

"Because I know how to handle it. I've experienced this pain before!" She snapped, "...with my family..."

"Huh?"

"I'm sure you remember about the Uchiha Massacre, right?"

"Uhh, yeah."

"I was the only survivor because the murderer couldn't kill me."

"Why?"

"He was my brother..." She could feel Naruto move in shock, "he told me that I should kill him when I have enough hatred. I have to get stronger so I'm able to annihilate him. I learned the hard way that getting too attached to people only ends up hurting you... Even now, I'm starting to feel that pain," Sasuke's eyes began to blur slightly but she tried not to cry, "but I am going to kill him."

"Damn right," He responded, making Sasuke look behind her in confusion, "he doesn't deserve to live if he killed those close to you. And once we're out of here, we'll kill that bitch together and become Chunin, believe it."

"Idiot, you need to have three people on a team to pass to the next round. We can't go on without Sakura," Sasuke took in a breath and tried to dry her eyes, "that's why we have to get out of these ropes and find her. I've already lost everything... But I'm not going to just stand by and watch those dear to me die."

 

Why exactly were they tied up in the first place when their opponent could've easily killed them? Sasuke then noticed how her weapons and the scroll used as a fake were no where to be seen.

 

"Naruto, do you have your weapons on you right now?"

"No- Wait!" Sasuke felt the boy shuffle around.

"What are you doing?"

"I sleep with shuriken and kunai on me sometimes."

"You what?!"

"Incase someone tries attacking me."

"No wonder you always fidgit when you sleep."

"Hey! I can get these out!" He shuffled around some more but Sasuke felt a shuriken go up instead of down, "...soon..."

"Ugh! We're going to be here for a  _long_ time."

 

* * *

 

Sakura rubbed her head with her non injured hand, it was almost a miracle that she escaped that bomb but the ringing did give her a headache that wouldn't go away.

 

She looked at the earth scroll with a frown before putting it back in a bag. They were only on the third day and they still haven't gotten the second scroll.

 

Her strength wasn't much but she was using as much of what she had left to jump across the tree branches. The trees looked the same and that didn't help her find her team.

 

Sakura's eyes caught sight of a mysterious red stain ahead of her. She stopped jumping and began to watch the stain slowly drip, Sakura didn't want to but she just had to smell it to confirm what it was.

 

Once she took a sniff, Sakura instantly recoiled and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

 

"Ugh! Gross, blood..." She covered her nose with both hands, only to stop complaining when she came to a realization, "...oh no... if that's blood... Oh god, it might belong to either Naruto or Sasuke! I have to find them!"

 

The pinkette quickly moulded her chakra and sensed the chakra around the woods. She could vaguely sense the chakra of Ino and her squad but she couldn't find her own teammates.

 

"Damn it, where are you guys?" She muttered, "please don't be dead," Until a kunai pressed itself on her throat and a hand pulled her head back, "Agh!"

"Give me your scroll." A female voice whispered. Sakura tried shaking her head but the blade pushed harder onto her neck, she could feel a cut burning into her skin. She slowly raised the scroll out of the bag before the hands let her go, "nevermind, you have an Earth Scroll too."

 

Sakura turned around and saw the brightest red hair she's ever seen that matched with red eyes and glasses. She looked around her age but her arms were tainted with bite marks.

 

"Whoa..." 

"What?" The girl asked while taking a small step back.

"Nothing, it's just... I like your hair, it's pretty. I've never seen red hair that bright." Sakura gave the girl a smile that caused her to blush.

"Uhh... Thanks?" The redhead fumbled with her glasses momentarily.

"So you're after a Heaven Scroll with your team?"

"Well, I don't know if my team is alive or not anyway. They just left me with the scroll."

"There are only twelve Heaven Scrolls now." Sakura said, scowling at the memory of Orochimaru burning the one they had.

"But, aren't there supposed to be thirteen?" 

"The one I had was burnt to a crisp by an enemy, and now I have to protect the scroll I have now," Sakura looked back at the blood stain on the wood, "but I have to find my two other teammates first before I can grab a Heaven Scroll."

"You're missing your team? I-I'm in the same boat as you. I tried to find my own team but all I can assume is that they're dead.  I've tried to find them by sending out their chakra but there's too much of that in the forest." 

"Wait, how good are you at that?"

"At what?"

"Sensing chakra."

"Well, I can sense it from miles away-"

"Then can you help me find my team? Please?!"

"...only if you'll help me find mine."

 

Sakura thought for a moment. This girl may just use her to do the dirty work so she could get the scroll, however her own sensory skills weren't as good as Sasuke's, she may have to agree with her.

 

"Fine... As long as you don't stab me in the back. I can handle a wound," She warned while showing the scars from training with Sasuke, "anyway, I'm Sakura Haruno." The girl held out a hand.

"I'm Karin Uz..." Her voice lowered on the last part and made it inaudible. The pinkette decided not to press on.

"Alright Karin, can you sense out my teammates?" 

"It depends on what you want me to look for." She stated.

"Well, one of them has a really bright and warm chakra and another has a cold type that does seem to getting warmer. One boy and one girl." 

"I'll see what I can do..." Karin brought her fingers to her face and closed her eyes.

 

Sakura was truly mesmerized by this girl, her personality almost reminded her about Hinata and her beauty was almost comparable with Ino's.  _'What the hell? Cha! I can't think that about someone I just met! I mean, she's not_  that _pretty.'_ The inner Sakura stated.

 

Karin's eyes widened in fear when she felt not two chakras, but three and one of them felt... Insanely horrifying... Almost inhuman- No, it was inhuman!

 

"I think I found them." she spoke up.

"Huh?... That was quick," the pinkette said, "can you lead me to them?"

"Yes, I can." Rapidly, the redhead grabbed Sakura's wrist and began jumping tree branch to tree branch in the direction where she sensed the chakra.

 

* * *

 

"Hey Sasuke?" Naruto spoke up while the two of them were looking around for any sharp object near them. He thought that he had the chance to tell the Uchiha about the fox sealed inside him.

"What?" Sasuke growled as she resorted to using her fingernails to grab the tight rope try and break it.

"I have to tell you something."

"Right now?" 

"It's what I tried telling you on the mission to the Land of Waves."

"Can it wait?"

"Sasuke. I have the Nine Tails inside of me." The raven stopped moving.

"What?"

"The Nine Tailed Fox. It's in me, well it was sealed in me when I was born," Naruto's shoulders slumped down and he raised his head to look at the beaming light from the sky, "that beast had almost destroyed the village and killed so many people, maybe even killed my parents. But I blame the Fourth Hokage for sealing it in me, people hated me for just being alive," Sasuke felt the boy shake behind her and she then heard a sniff, "I may not know what it's like to have a family but I was alone all my life, I could never tell who would come into my life. The closest thing I have to a family is Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and you... I don't want any of you to hate me."

 

Sasuke couldn't think of anything right to say to him. It explained those red eyes with slitted pupils she saw instead of Naruto's innocent sapphires.

 

"I almost lost hope... I almost lost you and now we may have lost Sakura." He finished.

"Naruto..." Sasuke began, "we... You can't assume things like that immediately. Sakura might not be dead and... Not everybody hates you for 'that', I was always confused about that. I couldn't find a reason to dislike you... Other than being annoying," Naruto gave a small chuckle, "but I don't think I ever hated you."

 

Naruto moved to get a closer look at the raven.

"Sasuke-"

"Ow!" She yelped at the sudden motion.

"Sasuke! What?" The blonde recoiled in shock.

"I think that was your kunai." She stated.

"Agh! I'm sorry, Sasuke."

"No, do it again."

"What?"

"I felt it go down. Just try again."

 

Naruto hesitated before moving from side to side, making himself give out a little cry of pain. Sasuke bit her lip to try and contain the pain, until she couldn't feel it anymore and heard a little thump on the ground. Her hand immediately snatched the kunai, tearing a bit of the hem of her blue shirt and giving a small scratch on her waist.

 

Sasuke turned the weapon around and began to cut the rope. One by one, the ropes were cut and both she and Naruto were out of their binds.

 

"Naruto, once again your habits have helped us," The Uchiha retorted, unintentionally making the Uzumaki blush, "now, let's go find Sakura."

 

She turned around to help Naruto, but Sasuke fell onto her knees with a cry. Naruto instantly went over to her side.

 

"Sasuke, what is it?" He asked when Sasuke looked at the bruise on her leg, "Don't tell me I did that!"

"Of course not, idiot. It was probably from the blast." Sasuke reached to touch the bruise, only to wince at the contact.

"I-I'll help you with that." Naruto said as he pulled out some gauze and began to wrap it around the bruise on her injured leg. The bruise was just below her shorts with the top of it inside the fabric

"This is the only time you'll get to do something like that, perv." She muttered with a faint blush, trying to ignore the sensation of Naruto's hand up her shorts.

"Whatever you say, Sasuke."

 

* * *

 

Karin and Sakura stopped jumping once the pinkette caught sight of a boy, no older than 16 or 17, sitting over some bags and weapon holsters... And a bush that seemed to be leaking a pool of red from beneath it. The boy pulled out an Earth Scroll from one of the bags, the  _fake_ scroll from Team 7.

 

"...damn brat... Sucks that your team won't pass the Chunin Exams but that's what you get for killing that stupid Uchiha bitch." Sakura almost gasped at the mention of Uchiha.

 

 _'No... Calm down, Sakura... She's not dead, they're both still alive... I know it.'_ The green eyed girl thought furiously. 

 

Karin noticed the negative emotions emitting from Sakura but before she could comfort her, she felt a familiar chakra that felt like it was fading but it wasn't close.

 

"Um... Sakura, I can feel my team's chakra but they don't seem to be good at the moment-"

"Can you sense them? My teammates?" Sakura interrupted, clearly interested in saving her team.

"Y-yes, I can. In fact, they seem to be nearby." She whispered. Karin stopped herself from tensing up when Sakura let out a sigh of relief before making a hand sign and putting the boy in a genjutsu.

 

The pinkette jumped down, first grabbing the weapon holsters and placing them in the bag and went over to the satchel. For necessary reasons, Sakura took the fake scroll and placed it next to the real one in her bag before looking deeper into the satchel and the other bags. Her intuition was right, there was another Heaven scroll in the bag.

 

"S-Sakura, hurry. I don't think the genjutsu will last longer." Karin alerted her ally in worry.

"But I only found one Heaven Scroll." Sakura called back.

"That doesn't matter, just get out of there." Sakura breathed, she considered it for a moment but she quickly grabbed the satchel and jumped up... But her ankle got caught by a tight grasp and pulled her back to the ground, making her fall onto her internally bruised arm, "Sakura!"

 

"Damn it... You dumb bitch!" The teen growled as he began to crawl onto his knees, Sakura didn't hesitate to slam her foot onto the boy's face and making him let go of her ankle. She quickly got up and jumped back up to Karin to hand her the bags. The frightened look of the redhead's face already told Sakura that mental kunais were being thrown at the back of her head, "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

 

The swear made her flinch as it reminded her of when Sasuke first sweared at her on the first A-Rank mission.

 

"Look out!" Karin suddenly cried out as she pulled Sakura out of the way as a kunai lodged itself into a tree. The boy stood up and made two clones to attack both girls to give him a chance to get the satchel and maybe kill them. 

 

Sakura pulled out a kunai and a few shuriken from her holster and flung them at one of the clones and the original, her green eyes narrowed when the boy jumped right at Karin when her back was turned with an obvious killing intent.

 

Karin had managed to sense the chakra but couldn't react to defend herself while fighting off the clone. The redhead didn't close her eyes in fear but instead they widened as Sakura's right arm got in the way, her free hand stopped the boy's arm with her wrist before pushing it up into the air and slamming the kunai she held in her left hand into boy's stomach. The teen gave an agonised scream before stabbing his own kunai into the bicep of Sakura's injured arm.

 

"AH!-" She cried out in sudden shock.

" **Sakura!** " Karin shrieked in fear.

"...ugh!" Sakura growled as she did her best to drag down the kunai to widen the bleeding wound in the teen before pulling the weapon out, causing the boy to fall limp on his back. The pinkette tried to balance herself on her legs but collapsed onto her knees.

"S-Sakura! Your arm!" Karin stated with tears in her eyes.

"I-It's... Just a scratch..." She panted as the blood began to stain her clothes, "...Sasuke might be impressed..."

"What the... Who would ever be impressed by their friend almost getting killed?!" Sakura opened her mouth to respond but only groaned in pain. Karin pulled her limbs away as a reflex before noticing the bite marks on her arms, "...bite down!"

"...what?"

"Just bite down!" 

 

Sakura had no choice but to do as the girl told her and bit down on the redhead's arm as hard as she could. Her teeth kept a strong hold on the arm but it started to loosen as the pinkette felt the bleeding gradually come to a stop. She relaxed at the sudden hand that ran through her hair. Karin had never felt pleased with being bitten in her entire life.

 

"You didn't have to save me, you know." She said with a small sympathetic smile.

"Ah vanted to..." Sakura tried talking.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," She told her while continuing to run her hand through the bright pink hair. Once Sakura had felt more refreshed, Karin slowly helped her sit up before wrapping a bandage around the arm, "Thank you, Sakura."

 

"Sakura?!" A voiced called out that made the girls look in the direction of rustling bushes that revealed her ruffled teammates, Naruto held Sasuke's arm over his shoulders, "Sakura! You're alive!"

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly while scrambling up, having Karin help her up and take her to the grass, "wait... You are the real thing, right? If you are, then what's my family's clan jutsu? That's passed down from the leader to heir?" She first asked, knowing fully well that her and her parents are just normal citizens in Konoha.

"Wait what?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"...you don't have a clan jutsu. Your family is an average family..." Sasuke answered, her face painted with disbelief, "With an incredibly intelligent girl for a daughter... Who knows how to escape from an explosion."

"Thanks Sasuke."

"I actually thought you were dead..." Sasuke looked at the ground as her arms began shaking. Sakura frowned, Karin let her friend walk out of her grasp to go over to her teammates. The pinkette hugged the raven and embrace was slowly returned.

"It's alright now, we're together again," Sakura looked over at Naruto before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the hug, "all of us."

 

Karin have a smile as the group before her was reunited, she then looked around as she sensed her own teammates chakra.

 

"Karin," Sakura called out to the other girl, "where are you going?"

"My team... I sense them from...I think... a mile away."

"Wait!" Sakura walked over to Karin and grabbed her wrist as Sasuke and Naruto walked closer to them, "Naruto, Sasuke, I'd like you to meet Karin. She helped me find you guys but it looks like you found us."

"H-hi..."

 

"Hello, I'm Sasuke Uchi-"

"WHAT UP! I'M NARUTO, KONOHA'S FUTURE HOKAGE!" Naruto called out, instantly interrupting Sasuke and surprising Karin.

"Naruto! Back up! You're scaring her!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke punched Naruto's head to shut him up. While Naruto writhed on the floor, Sakura smiled politely at Karin, "thank you Karin, I don't know how else to thank you." Karin remembered about the satchel and bags she was still holding before taking them off and giving it to the pinkette.

"Here, they belong to you." Karin informed. Sakura gave the two bags back to Naruto and Sasuke with their equipment before looking inside the satchel for another Heaven Scroll, "Sakura, it's alright. If there's only one, just take it with you."

"But what about you and your team?"

"There's probably more in the forest, we might meet up in the next round." Sakura smiled before giving Karin a hug and having it returned .

"Hopefully we'll meet again soon." 

"The centre is in that direction. I can sense a lot of chakra there." Karin stated while pointing in a direction.

 

Sakura slowly pulled out of the hug and went back to her team, they began to walk in the direction of Karin's finger. The pinkette stopped, looked back at Karin and waved to her.

 

"Bye, Sakura..." Karin waved back.

"Not bye, Karin. See you next time." Sakura corrected happily, making Karin blush.

"Right... See you next time." Karin smiled as her heart pounded and her face reddened to a hue that matched her hair.

 

Sakura didn't stop looking behind her and her actions were quickly noticed by Sasuke.

 

"Come on, Sakura. Let's finish this exam." The Uchiha said. Naruto looked at both girls before smiling at the Haruno.

"She was kinda pretty, wasn't she?" He said to both girls but the blonde looked down in disappointment when he saw that Sasuke was unphased.

"Yeah, she is..." Sakura responded confidently.

 

* * *

 

 

"Yeah! We did it guys!" Naruto exclaimed as he finished hugging Iruka once the chunin had finished talking to them about the exams.

"Looking at you kids right now really makes me proud, you're already here two days earlier than the deadline. You're still growning and you've gone so far now," the brunette smiled at the preteens, "Naruto, you might just become Hokage just by going to great lengths saving people in the village; Sakura, you're worth more than you think you are and you're strong enough to keep both Sasuke and Naruto in check; Sasuke, don't forget that having comrades besides you is more important than giving it up for a goal you have in your life. All of you will become great shinobi."

 

Two of the teens smiled, but Sasuke held her neutral face as she got lost in thought. Nobody truly understood how she felt about her goal, if anything it was probably most obvious to Kakashi. Now Naruto knows but Sasuke wasn't sure if he actually meant that she should go and kill Itachi.

 

"Sasuke," Iruka suddenly spoke to grab her attention, "you're more injured than Naruto and Sakura. I think you need medical attention much more than they need it."

"Right... I guess I do." She agreed once she looked down at her body, seeing the scratches and bruises on her skin. Sakura placed her friend's arm over her shoulders and began to help her walk as Iruka lead the team out of the room to the medical room.

"The nurses there will fix you up to be prepared for the final exam."

 

Sasuke noticed how all the walls had been painted green and the doors were an average dark brown, her eyes followed the dried paint patterns as they travelled behind her. The Uchiha then tripped over her feet and stumbled a bit and Sakura helped to straighten her up, she was surprised how the boys in front of them didn't notice their delay.

 

"Careful Sasuke, I didn't think you'd get distracted." Sakura chuckled lightly while the girl she held scowled at her own clumsiness.

"I didn't." She denied but Sakura could hear the cold tone in her voice and she kept up her act of helping her.

 

They reached a door with sign plastered on it, saying 'medic'. Iruka opened the door for the preteens and let them walk in. A woman with olive brown skin in a white nurse outfit and dark brown hair in a braid, no older than 35, looked up from the desk and frowned in what seemed to be annoyance.

 

"I had realised that the chunin exams had gotten more violent and ruthless but  _this_? Besides the boy, these kids look like they need serious attention," she muttered audibly as her green eyes analysed the kids before her, "poor kids."

"This is Naomi, one of the best medics in all of Konoha. Almost second to the Legendary Tsunade." Iruka joked as he gave a light laugh.

"Very funny, Iruka(!)" Naomi said with her eyes closed. She opened them again and looked over at Sasuke, "may you lay on the bed, young lady? Your legs are probably screaming right now."

 

Sasuke didn't understand the joke until she walked to one of the medical beds and layer down on the sheets. Naomi nodded before walking out of the room. Iruka wished the kids luck in the next round and went off to find Kakashi.

 

"You feeling better, Sasuke?" Naruto asked while sitting on the chair next to the bed.

"With scars like these, they'll teach me to become stronger as I grow." She said as she raised her arm to see a large scratch on her wrist.

"Well, you  _are_ Sasuke Uchiha. Nothing brings you down!" Sakura stated. Sasuke looked up at her to face her.

"Do me a favour and try not to die. I had enough people I cared about kicking the bucket early."

"Sasuke, when we survive a situation like that it teaches us how to avoid it in the future."

"What future?"

"The one-"

"The one where Naruto Uzumaki becomes Hokage and you girls will be my right hand hench women!" Naruto suddenly yelled to interrupt her and for once, Sakura didn't hit him. Both girls were confused about his statement.

"Hench-"

-Women?"

"Knowing you guys are stronger than the rest of the girls - heck, even the boys - at our age, who knows how strong you will be when you're Jōnin!"

 

As Naruto gave his cheesy grin, Sakura smiled brightly and even Sasuke smiled back at the two with a small light rose blush on her cheeks.

 

Naomi then returned back with a boy looking about a year younger than the main kids in the room walking right behind her. When the older woman stopped walking, he didn't notice and he bumped into her back.

 

"Sorry Naomi." he apologised while hesitantly touching his face that was covered by dirty blonde hair that seemed more brown than blonde.

"Don't worry about it," Naomi then looked at the kids in front of her, "Team 7, this is my apprentice, Toshiaki. He'll be assisting me with taking care of your health," The almond haired boy looked at the team blankly before smiling and waving at them, "Toshiaki, may you take care of the ones who are standing?"

"Yes ma'am."

 

Naruto and Sakura looked at the boy weirdly, seeing that the way he was walking was not normal as he was walking in small zigzags.

 

"I'd like to inform you that Toshiaki is unable to see through his eyes," Naomi suddenly stated as she walked to Sasuke, "but he is able to sense chakra. So in a way, he _can_ see you."

"Whoa, really?!" Naruto asked in disbelief before waving his hand in front of Toshiaki's face. The latter then smacked the hand away.

"I could sense the change in your chakra. Don't test me. Now, may I see your arm?" He asked while holding out his hand to Naruto.

"I think you mean me." Sakura butted in and placed her arm in Toshiaki's hand.

"Oh! Sorry," Toshiaki chuckled with an embarrassed blush on his cheeks, "I still need to work on my sensory skills."

"It's alright, now I'm not so sure if the bleeding was stopped entirely and it does still hurt a bit."

"Well then, I'll try and _see_ if I can make the pain go away." He joked, making the females in the room cringe.

"But you can't see- oh." Naruto cringed after the realisation.

 

"Now, I believe you had a bit of a rough and tumble." Naomi said as she placed her hand above Sasuke's bruise on her leg and a green light emitted from her palm.  

"H-Hey, what is that?" Sasuke asked.

"It's a technique that medical ninja use to heal wounds, cuts and bruises. It's normally painless so you don't have to worry."

 

Sasuke felt herself starting to relax, her muscles stopped tensing and her eyes closed until she felt a gentle hand on her chest. Her black eyes snapped open and they travelled over to look at Naomi, who looked back at the girl with a reassuring look.

 

The Uchiha felt a burn in her neck once again - harsher than the last time it was hurting - and it caused her to smack her hand over the mark.

 

"AGH! Shit, not agAIN!" She cried through gritted teeth. Naomi's hands pulled away momentarily from the girl before going back to work by grabbing Sasuke's wrist and pulling it away from the mark.

"Sasuke?!" Naruto asked in worry for his teammate, unaware with how Sakura was looking at him. The pinkette didn't want Naruto to find out about the curse mark like this.

 

"Stop thrashing around, Uchiha! I need to see what the problem is." Naomi shouted.

"NO, it... HURTS!" She writhed around at the burning pain. Naomi managed to grab the top of Sasuke's blue shirt and pulled it down to see the mark. Her green eyes widened at the glowing sight of it.

"We need to seal this. Immediately!" She called out to the teens, "Toshiaki, I need you to run and find Anko and the Third-"

 

"I'll go find Kakashi-Sensei! He'll know what to do!" Naruto interrupted as he tried to run out into the hall.

"Naruto, no! You idiot!" Sakura yelled as she grabbed his jacket, "Iruka-Sensei went to go get him, you don't even know where he is."

 

Naruto turned back around at the fact that Sakura was right. Kakashi was probably too far for him to even reach the medic. He looked back at Sasuke and watched as she writhed in agony. His blue eyes widened when he saw the curse mark glowing and spreading over the girl's body like wildfire.

 

He could've cried right then and there as Sasuke's screams grew louder.

 

"Kids, help me!" Naomi ordered the two Genin, who immediately did as they were told. Sakura went and held down her friend's upper body and Naruto held down the legs. Naomi tried to remove the shirt off, Naruto's face turned red when he saw Sasuke thrashing while half naked. Of course she still had the bandages over her chest just to be safe.

 

"Your teacher, Kakashi Hatake." Naomi breathed for a moment before Sasuke could start moving again, "he's been training an animal."

"No, geT OFF! ITS GETTING WORSE!" The raven yelled.

 

"Sasuke, please! You gotta relax."

" **I** **CAN'T**!!!" Sasuke cried as her eyes began to fill with tears of pain, she pulled herself out of Sakura's hold and began to sway her arms with the intention of getting people away from her. Naruto quickly stopped what he was doing, ran over near Sakura and pulled Sasuke into a tight embrace that kept her immobilised, "LET ME GO! IT BURNS!"

"Please calm down." He whispered to her as Naomi tried to use her chakra to make the mark calm down. Naruto sighed in relief as he felt the girl move less and slowly relax in his hold, he watched as the marks began to shrink. "There, there."

"...Naruto..." Sasuke tried to say but all of her thrashing and screaming had drained her of most of her energy since she wasn't used to yelling so much the same time as moving too much, she had never gotten this tired when fighting with challenging opponents, "...it hurts..."

"You don't have to worry, just close your eyes. It will all be over soon if you have some ramen." He said as he stroked her hair to soothe her more. When he felt it now, he could feel that the strands of hair felt longer than before, "maybe you could grow out your hair a little bit."

 

The girl's eyes travelled around and they caught sight of Sakura's worried face looking right at her, her cheeks was drenched with tears. She could have opened her mouth to say something but her eyelids had finally shut and Sasuke fell unconscious.

 

"I've managed to calm down the mark but it won't be enough. It has to be sealed." Naomi told him as she wiped the sweat off Sasuke's forehead.

"Perhaps I could seal it," A voice from the doorway spoke, making all of them (minus Sasuke) turn around to see Kakashi, "sorry, is this a bad time?"

"..." Naomi crossed her arms, "have you ever sealed a mark like this?" His silence answered the question, "that's what I thought."

"Can I see her?" He asked confidently. Trusting the jōnin, the woman gave a nod and stepped over to one side. Kakashi went over to the little Uchiha, who was still held by Naruto, the silver haired man placed his hand on his shoulder with a look that told his student to trust him, the blonde gave a small nod and let the girl lie on the bed. Kakashi looked at all the cuts, bruises and bandages on Sasuke's arms and legs. One of her arm warmers was torn by the fabric and showed a small red slash draped across her forearm.

"I can heal the cuts but faint scars will be left, her body will have to do the rest of the healing onward. Other than that, she just needs some rest."

 

"Sakura... What was that?" Naruto asked hesitantly as he walked over to his other teammate's side. Sakura wiped her teary face, seeing no use in hiding the truth from him now.

"I-It was him... It was Orochimaru, he bit her and that... Thing appeared on her neck. It kept hurting her, I didn't want to see her get hurt." She sobbed, feeling Naruto's arms around her.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"She didn't want you to know... You would've tried to kill  _him_  if you knew. If you did try, you would've been killed."

"...Damn right... I would've tried killing that bastard."

 

A sharp thump was heard by the doorway.

 

"S-Sorry! I brought them, ma'am!" Toshiaki alerted as he ran into the room with Anko Mitarashi and the Third Hokage and a few other ninja. Naruto hadn't even noticed that the apprentice was gone when he had arrived.

"We came as soon as we heard," Anko verified, her gaze turning over from the kids by the door to the unconscious one in the bed and her eyes widened. ' _That's... The Uchiha girl. Orochimaru...'_

"This is an issue that cannot be avoided," Hiruzen stated, "Sasuke has to be taken away from this room into privacy... In case Orochimaru has any minions trying to kidnap her."

 

Anko walked over and took the girl off the bed as gently as she could be; Sasuke stirred slightly as the arms that held her felt uncomfortable and strange as she rested.

 

"Hey guys..." Kakashi comforted the concious preteens as he went over to their sides, "I know that this won't help you but I need you guys to stay alert when you're around Sasuke, this... Orochimaru doesn't seem like the type to let his target get away so easily."

 

* * *

 

Sasuke's eyes began to flutter as she awakened from her slumber, they finally widened and the Uchiha sat up in the bed she was in. She looked over at the curse mark in confusion when she didn't feel the occasional jab whenever she woke up. Her onyx eyes noticed how the bed was more narrow than her own bed, she must still be in the nurse's office.

 

"Sasuke?" A voice called out to her, Sasuke looked over and saw Toshiaki sitting by the table with some herbs, "you're awake, right?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm awake, how long have I been out?" She asked while rubbing her eyes.

"About half a day, Naomi told me to keep watch over your chakra in case that curse mark starts acting up again. But you don't have to worry, the Third Hokage had sealed it for you." He answered while standing up from the chair and grabbing a couple of  food pills.

"Where's my team?"

"They've went to rest momentarily, the rest of what they're doing is unknown to me," Sasuke looked over the the white door as if Kakashi or Naruto we're going to to come in. Her bed made a sound as Toshiaki accidentally bumped his hip on the bed post, "Ouch! Man, it sucks when you can't sense inanimate objects in your way. I'll be feeling that for a day or two."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I should've been used to that by the time I was eight years old." Toshiaki walked to the side of the bed and faced Sasuke, "here you go," he said as he held out four food pills he grabbed earlier, "these are my own food pills, I made them with a bit of help from Naomi. She always helps me to add the ingredients by putting them in my hand."

 

Sasuke took the pills and carefully munched on one, taste exploding in her mouth and she immediately swallowed after taking about 6 chews.

 

"Mmm! Wow, that was pretty good!" She stated.

"I know! Now you eat those pills, Naomi instructed me to go find her once you had awokened. She said that you needed a checkup." Toshiaki informed as he began to walk out the room, only faltering when he knocked his wrist into the doorway.

 

Sasuke responded by munching on the remainders of the pill and finishing it slowly, she really liked the flavours mixed in, she could really feel her strength going back to 100%,

_'Seriously, these are so good. I should save them for later.'_

 Sasuke pulled the blanket off her legs, removed herself from the bed and walked over to the desk to find a napkin or something. There were so many herbs and medicines in the way and she didn't want to unorganise it for a medic. She saw a medium sized white cloth and reached for it but her arm accidentally knocked one of the bottles onto its side, making it roll off the desk. Sasuke immediately caught it in her grasp using her quick reflexes.

 

She placed the bottle back on the desk and grabbed the cloth. With a steady hand, she wrapped the pills in the fabric and held them close to her side.

 

She looked at a chair besides the bed, seeing the sign of Uchiha on her blue shirt as it layed on the well crafted seat. Now that she noted, if her shirt was there then what was she wearing to cover her upper body. She looked down at her chest and gave a sigh of relief when she saw the bandages still covering her breasts to the top of her navel.

 

"Hey," a rough sounding voice spoke up, causing Sasuke to jump slightly. The Uchiha quickly grabbed the shirt and clutched it to her chest as she turned around to see who could be intruding on her. She only saw Anko Mitarashi, the instructor for the second exam and the same person who cut Naruto's cheek, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed , "whoa. Calm down kid, I'm not some perverted male."

"N-no, it's alright."

"May I come in?" Sasuke gave her a nod while putting on the shirt, Anko stepped in with a grin, "I noted that your teammate doesn't have that scar I gave him when we first met."

"You mean Naruto? Yeah, I did notice on the first day in the forest. It had healed in 15 minutes."

"Impressive. And I conclude that you had met a certain snake in the same forest," Anko had stopped smiling when she thought about her former sensei, "the one who gave you that curse mark." Sasuke stiffened as if she felt those fangs sinking into her flesh.

"..."

"I'm talking about Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin."

"I heard of him. That mark made things harder for me."

"And it won't stop there," Anko sat down on the bed, "if Orochimaru has bitten you, then it means you're part of a plan."

"A plan?"

"I don't doubt that what he wants is to use your body for his own sick desires," Sasuke felt her breath stop, "he might try another experiment..."

"How do you know so much about this?"

 

The purple haired woman lowered a side of her collar to reveal her own mark.

 

"These things never go away... They haunt you and never give you much peace... They deform you by giving you torturous power..."

"...power?..." The Uchiha whispered under her breath.

"If Orochimaru does try and take you from Konoha, that means he's desperate for something... Or someone..."

"What are you trying to say?" The woman reached over and grabbed Sasuke by her shoulders.

"I'm saying that if Orochimaru tries to kidnap you, you need to resist with all your strength. If he tries convincing you to join him then ignore anything that tempts you. Even if you _know_ you're strong and you believe you can take him on, you're dead wrong. He's a murdering psychopath who'll do anything to get what he wants... And he wants you."

"...W-what do I need to do?"

"Promise to me, kid."

"Huh?"

"Promise me that you'll never resort to using that curse mark, I know it was sealed but still."

"But if it gives me power..."

"Don't think it over! That kind of power offered by a madman will make your life hell," The woman gave the girl a desperate look to signify that she meant it, "Do you understand, Sasuke Uchiha?"

"...transparently." 

 

* * *

 

Team 7 stood in a line next to the other teams that passed the second exam. The Uchiha of the group looked over at Neji, who stood in front of his team. Feeling eyes on him, the Hyuuga looked behind him by only showing one pale eye and Sasuke stopped looking at him as if nothing happened.

 

Sakura was looking around a bit frantically, trying find any sight of that pretty red hair she saw two days ago. Nothing on the left and nothing on the right.

 

_'Maybe I haven't looked closely enough. Karin might be around with her team if she-'_

"Sakura?" Sasuke spoke up, snapping the pinkette out of her thoughts, "what are you looking for?"

"O-Oh, nothing."

 

Sasuke didn't believe her excuse but she couldn't interrogate her at the moment as the Hokage spoke up. He congratulated the teams that had successfully managed to pass the second exam but there were too many ninja to go on to the third exam.

 

There were going to have be preliminary rounds to determine which ninja will pass on to the final exam. A screen appeared from the wall to the right of the Hokage and began to file out the names.

 

She saw her name for the second round after Shino went up against Zaku.

 

Here she was now, up against a boy from Kabuto's team for the preliminarys.

 

Her black eyes wandered around to find her opponent. A burly boy from the sound wearing black glasses stepped up, and looked more stronger than she ever will in such a frail form as a pre-teen.

 

"Go Sasuke!" She heard Naruto yell as loud as he could open his mouth and she couldn't help but let out a small smile.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Sakura this time. The pinkette didn't fight yet and she was determined to enter the finals thanks to Sasuke's help with her training.

As the word 'begin' was heard, Sasuke heard the boy before her snicker.

 

"Let's go!" He yelled, preparing to initiate an attack on her.

"Okay!" She responded while reaching for a kunai.

 

Yoroi flung shurikens at her but Sasuke deflected them with her kunai. Her feet did stumble slightly when she felt the fading bruise on her leg start acting up, almost making her fall. She breathed for a moment before looking up and seeing that the guy was above her, ready to strike a punch. Sasuke avoided the blow by using a hipscape (a technique used in Judo to escape an attack or a hold with your hips when your arms aren't available) and she impaled the floor with her kunai to grip onto something as she sweeped Yoroi's feet and he fell onto his back, giving the Uchiha the chance to put him in an armlock.

 

She then heard a sly chuckle before feeling his hand turn around and grip her chest, right on her cleavage. Her onyx eyes widened at a sudden 'draining' sensation as he gave a squeeze.

 

"Hey!" She began to flip as she remembered what she was taught about her body. But Yoroi let go of her chest and raised the back of his arm up before harshly elbowing Sasuke's gut in, winding her, "Agh!"

 

As the Uchiha coughed, the large young man stood up and slam his palm onto her forehead. Sasuke immediately grabbed the arm and tried to push it away but as she tried to move it with no avail, her strength began fading.

 

"My... Chakra..." She wheezed out. Her legs began to stretch out to try and kick Yoroi's legs but the pushing motion on her head caused her to kick right into his groin.

 

A couple of groans were heard from the audience, even a sharp, audible 'Oh,' was heard from Kakashi. But Yoroi had pushed himself away from the girl as he grabbed his lower region and fell onto his knees. Sasuke saw the opportunity to attack as her Sharingan awoke and she punched his face. His body was knocked backwards but he rolled over onto his side, getting closer to Sasuke's legs and pulled out three shurikens.

 

Sasuke remembered an attack like that before the exams, Kakashi had trained the team to avoid attacks like those and be prepared with a counterattack. She envisioned the scene with her dojutsu.

 

Naruto had thrown the shuriken at her when they were about three inches separated and Sasuke had placed her left foot behind her to balance her as she leaned her head to the side as the shuriken flew past her and she swung her leg to the side of his head but she didn't expect him to catch it; the vision of Naruto was gone, Yoroi had returned and resumed his previous action and drain more of her chakra.

 

"You can do this, Sasuke!" She heard Naruto shout. She couldn't give up now. 

 

She closed her eyes and let her upper body fall forward over the boy, causing him to stop her from falling with his open hand. Red eyes shot open and she shoved her knee from her right leg into his jaw. Blood splattered onto her pale skin and Yoroi's head fell back into the ground and knock him unconscious.

 

Sasuke's legs shook as she tried to step back with the left leg drained of most chakra but she couldn't remain balanced and fell backwards the moment she was declared the winner. She tried sitting up but then her wrists went limp and Sasuke fell back again but her back rested on a leg that stopped her from laying on the floor.

 

"Well done, Sasuke." Kakashi spoke behind her, she looked up and saw the familiar orange cover of that mature book. Sasuke couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks..." She whispered.

"Do you think you're gonna be able to stand upright to watch the rest of the fights?"

"I guess..." The silver haired jōnin helped her on her feet and kept close to her as they walked back up the stairs to the sidelines the medical nin who carried her defeated opponent. Sasuke would be lying if she said that she expected herself to win.

 

As Sasuke leaned against Kakashi for balance, she looked at the teams and saw Kurenai. She remembered the final part of the conversation between her and Kurenai was a lot more calmer than she had expected.

 

* * *

 

_"...but usually, teenagers are at the age when they're most fertile so I would warn you to be careful when you're older." Kurenai finished before noticing how silent Sasuke was, "is everything alright?"_

_"Huh? Oh, yeah... It's just I don't really...understand, it just seems weird."_

_"Well that it is what some people think. Everyone has their different opinions about this topic but they also have different sexualities as well," Sasuke tilted her head in confusion while a small part of her wanted to escape the embarrassing lesson, "people do end up with who they want to love but it just happens very differently in some places. For example, if a man were to fall in love with another man the village would either accept it or be completely against it. But if you're the last member of your almost extinct clan then the village will expect you to have relations with the opposite gender to have children-"_

_"Okay! I'm out!" Sasuke said suddenly with a disgusted look on her face, it wasn't the topic of sex that was bothering her but the expectations were another thing ._

_"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Kurenai asked._

_"Nothing! It's just-" Sasuke paused in her tracks._ _She turned around to face the woman, "the villagers are going to expect me to do... That and make babies, aren't they?"_

_"Not everyone, Sasuke. But the council say that they would do anything for the sake of Konoha."_

 

_Sasuke turned back around and resumed her walk to the door. When she gently closed the door on her way out, the Uchiha took a moment to breathe the fresh air and walk down the stairs._

 

_"Sasuke!" The addressed looked back and saw Kurenai coming out of the building with two books in her hands, "I got these before you came around and I thought that you would like to read them incase you're still worried about this topic but I'll always be happy to help another kunoichi in training."_

 

_Once Sasuke had received the books, she gave her thanks to Kurenai and resumed her walk through the streets to her apartment. When she thought about it the council wasn't thinking about her as an individual, they were just using her as a pawn._

 

_When she had arrived home, she dropped the books onto the table and left them there with no intention of reading them._

 

* * *

 

Of course the books were still there, untouched, collecting dust and tempting Sasuke whenever she was in the same room as them.

 

Sakura hugged Sasuke once she reached her two teammates.

 

"You did it Sasuke. I knew you could do it." The pinkette smiled as her embrace tightened.

"You're squishing me, Sakura." The raven breathed.

"Oh, sorry!" Kakashi gave a light chuckle as Sakura pulled away from Sasuke and Naruto held up a fist for the Uchiha.

"I didn't once think that you would lose." He expressed, making a light pink appear on Sasuke's cheeks.

"Maybe the same can be said for you." Instead of the raven turning her head away to hide the blush, she casually returned the gesture and fistbumped him.

 

Naruto's eyes looked behind the girl and they narrowed and his smile turned into a frown. Sasuke quickly turned around and came to look at Neji. His face still bore that condescending look that made the Uchiha's face flush.

"That was some fight," he stated.

"T-thanks..." She responded, giving a small but rare smile.

 

"Guys, look! I bet I'm gonna be next!" Their blonde companion chimed in in anticipation.

"No way, it'll be me!" Rock Lee from Neji's team expressed while leaning over the railing.

 

It was neither of them of course, instead it was that boy from the Suna on Gaara's team against a boy from the Sound. Kankuro against Misumi Tsurugi; the fight wasn't too long but since the former had won, Sasuke could now know what to expect from the puppet master if she were to fight him. 

 

A small break was held and Sakura left to go to the bathroom. Naruto kept waiting in anticipation as he leant over the railing, almost falling over.

 

"Come on, I need a fight already!" He complained, not caring if he was about to fall or not.

"Hey, careful! The next round won't start unless everyone is here!" Sasuke shouted as she grabbed the back of his jacket to pull him back over before feeling a sharp pain in her right elbow, "Gh!" At the sound of her small yelp, she let go to tend to her arm and forgot about Naruto but thankfully, Kakashi quickly reacted and pulled the boy over.

"Naruto, don't act so desperate in this situation. You'll be giving away a lot of ideas to whoever is your opponent," the silver haired Jōnin addressed before turning to Sasuke, "Now, let me look at your arm."

"Nothing's wrong, Kakashi." Sasuke tried to avoid the inspection but her teacher ignored her claims and gently took her arm.

"It doesn't look injured, you wouldn't mind bending your arm for me, right?" Sasuke didn't answer and began bending her arm up and down, flexing her small biceps, "weird, we'll...leave it like that for the moment."

"Sorry Sasuke!" Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Idiot." She irritably muttered while subconsciously rubbing her arm. Good thing it didn't start hurting while she was fighting Yoroi otherwise she wouldn't be fighting in the final exam.

 

Sakura walked back up the stairs while looking over at the other side of the sidelines. No sign of Karin anywhere. _'I guess she couldn't make it-'_

The pinkette stopped thinking once she accidentally bumped into someone.

 

"Hey. Watch it!" The girl from Neji's team glared at the other girl.

"Sorry, I wasn't focused..."

"I know, maybe you shouldn't think so much about your opponent and think more on your attack." Sakura tried ignoring her comment and walked past her before saying,

"Moody, much?"

 

She stood besides her team and waited for the names to appear on the screen. Her mind kept going back to the same redhead and caused her to get distracted. The pinkette's stayed unfocused but Naruto's face was the first thing she saw when she snapped out of the small daze as he shook her by the shoulders to grab her attention.

 

"Sakura, didn't you hear a word of what I just said?!" He yelled in her face.

"Naruto! Stop shaking me!" She yelled as she punched his head, "What is it?"

"You've been called up!" He answered while rubbing the top of his head.

"Huh?" Sakura looked at the board, seeing her name and the name of someone called 'Tenten'. 

"Good luck." Sasuke said to the Haruno as she went down into the arena by jumping down the railings. She looked over to the left and noticed how the girl with buns in her hair went down the same way as Sakura did with a smirk. _'Speak of the devil, don't think I didn't notice you arguing with her, Sakura...You may have some competition with someone other than Ino.'_

 

The girl still had that smirk on her face, showing that she was confident enough to think that she'll win. Sasuke could feel an instant dislike towards her, she placed her mental bet on Sakura against whoever (*cough*Lee and Gai*cough*) thought Tenten could win.

 

"Sakura, Tenten. Step forward for the fouth round..." A pregnant silence that didn't appear for any of the other fights filled the room, "begin!"

 

Tenten immediately pulled out four shuriken and flung them straight at Sakura. The pinkette cartwheeled over to the left to avoid getting cut, she pulled out a kunai and prepared to either attack or defend. The brunette gritted her teeth but she wasn't giving up, after seeing Sakura being so easily defeated in the Forest Of Death she had no doubt that she would beat her. Her hand grabbed eight shuriken this time, causing Sasuke to widen her eyes. Sakura had barely just managed learn how to deflect six shuriken and one kunai, all of those short lessons left her with scars on her arms. Tenten threw out her arms at a time and let four aim at the pinkette.

 

Sakura easily deflected three of the shuriken and avoid the last shuriken but she then looked behind her when she noticed that her opponent wasn't in front of her anymore; the last four shuriken had finally appeared and Sakura had only deflect two of them but the final two gave a deep cut in her exposed right shoulder and left cheek. 

 

"Gh!"

"Oops(!) This is going nowhere for you, just quit. It will be over soon and you won't have to worry about getting hurt anymore." Tenten slyly offered.

"That's not an option for me," Sakura stated as she wiped the blood off her cheek but it just kept leaking, "losing this fight was _never_  an option!" The green eyed girl began to run straight at the older girl, who began to feel threatened. Again, she tossed the same amount of shuriken as she did earlier but Sakura deflected some of them and got cut on her arms and clothing.

"What the-!" Tenten almost gave a yell of fright and began to throw more weapons, a couple of them deflected and others cutting Sakura and making her flinch in pain. One of the weapons flew straight back at their owner and gave a cut to her hand. The moment she was in front of her, Sakura positioned her feet, turned her hip, clenched her fist and punched directly into Tenten's face.

 

The force of the punch caused Tenten's head to fall back and hit it against the floor, knocking her out instantly. Sakura breathed slowly to catch her breath; Naruto gave his second most loudest cheer for her; Sasuke smiled a well deserved smile and Kakashi gave an impressed smirk hidden behind his mask.

 

"The winner of the fourth round, Sakura Haruno."

 

"SHANNARO! ALRIGHT!" Sakura proclaimed before running back to her team, "I DID IT, GUYS! I DID IT!"

"I'm proud of you, Sakura. You remembered our training techniques." Sasuke stated as she held up a hand to hi-five her, which she happily returned.

"All I did was think of Naruto when I punched her."

"O-oh... Well, I'm proud of that too."

 

For the next rounds, Temari fought against Ino and won with no sweat drawn; Shikamaru faced Dosu and won with his Shadow Possession by making the latter hit his head against the wall and Naruto had just finished his fight against Kiba... By farting in his face.

 

Sasuke could still smell the odour from where she is now. But her eyebrows raised in interest when she saw the next round was for Neji and Hinata Hyūga.

 

"Aren't they family? If they're from the same clan then won't it be hard for them to fight each other?" Sakura asked Kakashi after hearing Hinata affectionately call Neji 'brother'.

"Well yes, they are family and they are from the same clan but the Hyūga have a different way with family," Sasuke looked up at her teacher, she was already listening once 'family' was mentioned, "They have a main family and a branch family."

"Huh, two different families? Why?" Naruto asked in his normal accusing way.

"Well... The main family is the one who is in charge of the entire clan and the branch is the side family that protects them."

"They're basically the servants is what you're trying to say." Sasuke informed.

"That's right. Hinata is from the main family and Neji is from the branch. But there is currently some bad blood between the two families so..."

 

Sasuke looked back at the arena, feeling sorry for Hinata as she was taunted by her cousin while they fought. The girl was hesitant in every attack she drove at Neji and Sasuke could almost see the chakra flying around. But she could feel the hatred she had for _him_  boiling as she watched this fight between relatives go on. How can anyone be so cruel to their own family.

 

Whatever this feud was between them, it'd better be settled because Sasuke was becoming more enraged.

 

A violent blow that caused blood to splatter out of Hinata's mouth made Sasuke begin to breathe heavily and slowly. A part of the Uchiha wanted to turn away and cover her ears but at the same time, she had to watch. 

 

At the last minute, Sasuke felt a wave of realisation fall over her. This was a symbolism of her future battle with Itachi: both of the same kekkei genkei, bad blood between them... Only one winner...

 

The last two fights had Choji losing to Kin as he tried rolling into her but the sounds she made with her senbon caused his mind to go wild and he crashed into the wall and was knocked right out. And Rock Lee against Gaara... The fight was nothing but brutal, Gaara had practically destroyed Lee but he still kept going. That was true determination. Either way, Gaara had won, Lee had lost and would most definitely be in the hospital for a long time. He was more than lucky to survive. All Sasuke could say was that anyone who'd go up against that sand master is dead meat.

 

Ten genin stood in a line, Sasuke stood third next to Sakura on her right and Shino on her left. For some reason, Sasuke felt her chakra building up in a painful way, it was completely unnatural for chakra building to be painful.

 

Hayate held out a bag for the kids to put their arm in and pick out a number. She swore she heard Naruto groan in frustration.

 

"Please, read out the number you have received." Hayate instructed as Anko prepared to write the names on paper.

"One." Naruto groaned.

"Three." Sakura said.

"Nine." Sasuke read aloud.

"Five." This time Shino.

"Two." Neji.

"Eight." Shikamaru.

"Four." Kin.

"Six." Kankuro.

"Seven." Temari.

"Ten." Gaara.

 

Anko had finished writing and presented the paper, Naruto and Sakura felt a gasp escape their throats when they managed to read who Sasuke's opponent was: Gaara. Sasuke felt sweat begin to run down her back, she looked over at her opponent. Not a scratch was on him... And that scared her.

 

In all honesty, Gaara was probably the only other person Sasuke was scared of other than Itachi.

 

But with her facing Gaara, Naruto facing Neji and Sakura facing Kin in a month, they needed all the time they had to prepare and Sasuke had no idea how.

 

* * *

 

 

"Kabuto..." Orochimaru spoke with a silky voice that could make anyone shudder, "I want _every_ detail about Sasuke's body, the news is that he's not a boy as I had thought so that's why I'm leaving her in your hands."

"Indeed, Lord Orochimaru. This was about three weeks ago but what I had learned was that she does feel a bit insecure about her gender."

"That's usually normal in young girls when it's applied to weight and appearances but gender. For a girl, she would always have doubts about her body, but Sasuke... Whether it's about looks or gender, she could not be _more_  wrong. She is _perfect_." Kabuto began thinking ahead and received a dark, sick thought that would most certainly get him into trouble with his lord but he did not mention it.

"How can you be so certain if Sasuke hadn't even used the power of the curse mark at all during her fight?"

"Remember, Kin had observed the girl in the forest and the analysis was deemed successful. Since Kin is now in the finals, she won't be needed in the jutsu. However, Zaku and Dosu have no say in whether they decided to do it or not."

"Understood, my Lord."

"Now, spy on Sasuke at any moment. Any weakness learned will give me an advantage for the experiments. You may go now."

"Yes, my Lord."

 

Kabuto removed himself from the position he was in and slid away, blending in with the dark shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If some of you guys have read 'from the corner of your eye', you'll notice that I have introduced Karin a little early. I'm not going to make an Uzumaki Arc like Chadsuke, otherwise I'd be copying their work.
> 
> I just really like Karin and I want her and Team Taka to be involved with this fanfiction because in the future, there will be a plot point with both Uzumakis but I'm not trying to steal someone else's idea. Unfortunately, writer's block is serious diagnosis and I need to read other fanfictions to get an original idea. 
> 
> Sorry for the confusion. Also I don't know how to add pictures to my chapters and I need help doing so. My computer isn't working properly and it won't let me go onto Chrome so all I use is my IPad and my phone to write chapters (mostly IPad). I really need this help so I can show what Sasuke and the characters look like and what they're doing. Please help.


	10. A Rough Start And A Relaxed But Saddened Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danger approaches Sasuke as she is made a target but she has people who care about her to protect her.
> 
> Meanwhile, we go over and see how Itachi is doing on his younger sister's birthday.

"Well surprisingly enough, Naruto is less injured out of you three, despite what Kakashi told me about his fight with Kiba," Toshiaki informed kindly, "all I would suggest is for him to eat something like soup."

"Like ramen?!" Naruto asked with bright wide eyes.

"I said soup." The boy's face fell from its composed smile into an annoyed expression that the three comrades of the blonde were all too familiar with.

 

The Uchiha layed on the medical bed while Sakura slowly stroked her friend's hair. Sasuke couldn't feel like she was able to move, the drainage of her chakra during her match was more than 2 hours ago but instead of the chakra slowly building up to a human's normal amount without being detected by the senses, her pain receptors kept sensing pain that kept increasing at a slow pace.

 

"If you don't mind me asking, where's Naomi?" The pinkette looked around the room.

"She left when she was called to heal a... 'Hinata Hyūga'... You might know her," The entire room immediately went silent in despair and team 7(minus Kakashi)'s aura went so dark that Toshiaki could almost see it, "she did come back but then she left again."

 

The Jōnin was then reminded about the moment when Sasuke was in pain when Naruto had almost fallen over the railing.

 

"Toshiaki, do you think you can take a look at Sasuke's arm for a moment? She had a small incident with it earlier and I think she's been over doing her training."

"I'll go check," the blind boy carefully made his way over to the girl and held her arm once she gave it to him, feeling the muscles and asking her to flex. He felt a bit of mild swelling and it felt quite tender, "it doesn't seem serious at the moment but it's an early case of tendonitis."

"So my assumption was correct."

"My suggestion would be to wear a counterforce brace. It will spread pressure throughout her arm instead of putting it out all over the tendon."

 

"How long will I need to wear it?" Sasuke muttered, wincing when she moved.

"Perhaps 2 days, or more if the healing process is slowed by training," Onyx eyes widened when she had guessed what Toshiaki was going to say, "I know that all three of you are in the final rounds of the exams but you need to regain your strength, especially you, Sasuke. If you don't let that elbow heal, then the time it takes to heal will increase, just like any normal injury. And if you do manage to fight with that arm injured, well you can say goodbye to winning your match."

"It might be impossible for me to win anyway." Sasuke mumbled while looking away in frustration. She had to train now else she'll get killed by Gaara.

"It all comes down to how tough your opponent is," the medic said, "you shouldn't be too worried though, the final exam is in a month so you still have time." 

 

"You're pretty good at giving the good and bad news and warnings to your patients." Kakashi spoke up again.

"Me? No way."

"No, I think Naomi has been doing her best with you." He smiled behind his mask when he saw the medical apprentice get flustered.

 

"If it's alright," Sakura started, "do you think you can teach me a bit of what you do?"

"Well, I guess I could ask Naomi but it's possible."

"Great, I want to help out more on my team."

 

Sasuke kept her head turned, still frustrated about having to not train for at least two days.

* * *

 

Leaving her team behind her, Sakura rubbed her bandaged arms. Her fight in the preliminaries left her exhausted and her body was practically crying in pain, the most pain came from her knuckles after punching Tenten's lights out. But she didn't care about any of that - she was disheartened that Karin had never managed to go through to the preliminaries.

 

She walked through the small crowds of people, wanting to quickly get to her house without being bothered.

 

"Sakura!" A voice called out to her, the pinkette swung her head around looking for whoever called out her name.

"Huh?" She rubbed her chin in confusion.

"Over here!" Finally the girl looked to the left once more and her eyes widened. It called for a definite 'speak of the devil'.

"Karin!"

 

There she was, sitting in one of the cafés that Sakura loved. The pinkette quickly ran over to the redhead.

 

"You made it out."

"Technically, they let us out." Karin gave a shy giggle.

"Did you manage to find your team?" At Sakura's words, the girl immediately fell into a small bout of despair.

"Yeah... But they were... They were..."

"Oh! I'm sorry."

"Don't worry too much, I barely even knew them." 

"You didn't get hurt, did you?" Sakura sighed in relief when Karin shook her head, "that's good, I literally risked my butt to save you."

"Umm sorry..." 

"That was a joke, silly. I'm not mad, just a bit disturbed since that was my first kill."

"Wait, you haven't killed before?" Karin looked at the other girl with wide eyes.

"No, I never did."

"B-but you handled it so well."

"I don't know, I guess I was a bit overwhelmed with the thought of saving you," both girls blushed at what was just said. Sakura looked at the table Karin was at and decided to sit down next to her, "do... You want to eat something?"

"Uh yeah, I just didn't bring any money with me."

"That's alright, I usually bring some with me so I'll treat you." The pinkette smirked.

"What? N-No, you don't have to."

"Come on, Karin. This café has one of the best sweet dumplings in the whole village!"

"...I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." Karin blushed deeply, making Sakura smile before she could call for a waiter.

 

* * *

 

It wasn't even 8:00 P.M and the Uchiha we all know was already out cold on her bed. The sky was slowly turned from a bright orange mixed with pink that would remind anyone of Naruto and Sakura to a lavender purple, toddlers and children were asleep around this time so teenagers would be awake until... Whenever they're tired but not Sasuke on this evening.

 

Small breaths were thrown around the room as Sasuke slept. She was exhausted from her fight in the preliminaries, once she had arrived at her house, she immediately flopped down onto her bed and passed out after she got into her summer pyjamas: a simple sleeveless slate blue shirt with the Uchiha emblem on the back and white trousers up to her ankles. On her right arm, she wore her newly acquired counterforce brace that applied pressure to it. It was slightly uncomfortable but it kept Sasuke from feeling any pain in her elbow.

 

She had left the door slightly open to leave a gap for the cool wind to hit her skin as she slept. Why is it that on some summer nights, the air gradually becomes more humid and cooler for people?

 

She slowly turned as she slept but she didn't sense that chakra of another person outside on her balcony. Being a prodigy genin didn't mean that she was _that_ skilled yet, especially with her sensory skills thus, Sasuke remained blissfully unaware of the creeping shadow that walked into her room and closer to her bed.

 

The man watched as the girl's goosebumps began to rise on her arms, almost as if a part of her knew she was in danger. It made a smirk crawl on his face.

 

The moment he stood above the raven, he reached out to touch the soft, slightly marked cheek and gave a gentle stroke. Sasuke's eyes did give a small flutter but they were still unwilling to open, her body and mind too tired to do anymore effort after a day's work.

 

His free hand moved over the girl and was placed above her hip, his fingers lifting the hem of the shirt to push the rest of his hand onto her abdomen. Her stomach felt so smooth as he traveled his hand under the material. The raven made a small sound that made the man cover her mouth with his own. He pushed his tongue through her lips, not feeling any shame of his actions as his forceful action travelled to the girl's neck.

 

He started sucking and kissing a part of the pale neck on the left side that would surely leave a mark visible to the naked eye. The man pulled away for a moment and saw a bright red mark.

 

The intruder smiled as he pushed his hand up a bit more and finally feeling the small breast before squeezing, causing Sasuke to move her head as she gave a short groan. The man didn't falter and proceeded to use his other hand to pull down the Uchiha's trousers to her thighs, smirking when he saw her new black panties.

 

"Don't worry, Sasuke. Everything will seem so much better after this." He said as his fingers travelled to the trimming. He grinned darkly, only having his expression fade when he felt a cool metal blade pressed to his throat.

"Didn't your parents ever teach to leave girls alone?" A sharp voice spoke, disgusted by the man's actions.

"For your information, I never had parents but I could always get what I want if I'm wise and careful in every situation, unlike you Anko." The silhouette replied as he sneakily pulled out a smoke bomb.

"Well, it looks like that didn't happen at all." Anko all but smiled at her target's expression before hearing a crunch against the wall.

 

Immediately, the smoke powder was thrown into the woman's eyes and caused her to yank her hand to her face but she did not forget about the kunai in her other palm. The weapon clumsily cut a wound into the man's neck, blood flowing from the cut and falling onto his arms. One drop fell onto Sasuke's right cheek.

 

"Gh!" Was all he could cry out as he tried to stop the bleeding. Anko rubbed her eyes and gripped the kunai, getting ready to strike properly. She swung once more and stabbed the man in his shoulder rather than the chest she was aiming for.

 

The man almost screamed and punched Anko's gut, causing her to pull away from him and yank out her kunai. He kicked himself off the bed and pulled out a scalpel.

 

 _'A medical tool? How could I forget? He's a medic!'_ Anko immediately thought when she saw the gleaming tool. She dodged the swing of tool by rolling onto her back before kicking her opponent in his stomach.

 

"Ugh..." The commotion was enough to wake up Sasuke but only enough to make her open her eyes, sit up and rub her head.

 

The man wavered, staggering as he ran to the window and jumped out. Anko nearly followed but stayed behind to guard the girl. She quickly ran over to the Uchiha's bedside.

 

"Uchiha, are you alright?" The woman asked, carefully fixing up the girl's clothing.

"What happened? Why are you in my house?" Sasuke asked while fidgeting to get onto a cooler part of her bed. 

"You weren't aware?"

"...Of what?" Anko sighed in relief before looking at the bloodstain on the young girl's cheek. She licked her thumb and ran it over the cheekbone.

"Someone tried to... Nevermind, I'll explain it to you once you get some rest. The preliminaries really took its toll on you." The purple haired woman helped to lay the raven haired girl on her back.

"..." Sasuke tried to keep her eyes open and talk some more, "someone tried to what?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll be here to protect you. Just sleep." By her command, Sasuke fell asleep again. Anko went to her knees besides the bed and watched over the Uchiha.

 

 _'Orochimaru is a total monster to target this kid. And pedophilic assholes like him and that other guy are sure desperate to have her,'_  Anko thought, her hatred for men increasing. It's not that Anko likes the Uchiha if that's what you would assume, she just didn't take an immediate liking to Sasuke at all, she only just sympathised with her. All Anko just wants to do is to make sure that Orochimaru will never get any more children or people for his sick reasons.  _'No_ _way am I letting such sick tortures happen to her.'_

 

* * *

 

Naruto woke up with a start, immediately kicking the covers off him. He was somehow panting heavily and that really confused him. He didn't have a nightmare, he wasn't sick (in fact he never got sick before thanks to his jinchuriki status) and the nine tails inside him didn't feel like it was acting up at all so the blonde jinchuriki was left in a strong confusion. 

 

He looked over at the clock next to his bedside, seeing the handles set to 5:06. _'It's pretty early...'_ Naruto looked over at the floor that was practically decorated with empty ramen containers, _'I guess this place could use a clean up, just in case Sasuke comes over again... And maybe anyone else.'_

 

He gets off the bed and walks over to the garbage, still not able to get rid of the thoughts of why he woke up in the first place. He wasn't in any danger at the moment so he thought to his teammates. 

 

 _'Kakashi is a Jōnin and even if_  he was in danger, _he'd surely give his enemy a workout before questioning and finishing them off!'_ Naruto optimistically thought before thinking of the two girls on his team, _'well, Sakura is pretty dangerous if you consider her punches deadly so her enemy would definitely be the one crying for help. And Sasuke... That Orochimaru guy is after her but Sasuke is really skilled and awesome... She thinks she's so much better than me, well guess what Sasuke? I'm going to both beat you and protect you if I wanna become Hokage! I just... Need to figure out how that would work.'_

 

He grabbed a rag and began to run it over the dusty counter, he never really realised how disgusting he really was but he wasn't bothered too much. What _did_ bother him was the fact that Sasuke was being targeted by some grown perverted old man, it made him rage on the inside. To him, Sasuke was really important. She was a major turning point in his feelings, it taught him how he should think about people before judging them but he knew when a person was talking bullshit.

 

He didn't have a family from the start but she did. The way she grew up, restricted to be who she was from birth, wasn't right for her and then her family died when she was barely even a preteen. Losing something you had from the the start was bound to be so much more painful than not having it at all, it still hurts.

 

His elbow bent outwards and knocked a picture frame, unlike Sasuke, Naruto didn't have sharp reflexes. The picture fell to the ground and the glass broke.

 

"Agh! No!" Naruto stopped what he was doing and fell to his knees to grab the frame, only cutting his hand, "damn!" He gritted his teeth when he looked at his hand, a large gash going from his fingers to the middle of his palm. He looked over at the picture, seeing the leftover cracks in the glass over his team photo when they had officially become Team 7.

 

Cracks started at the very end of the frame, one of them stopped at a length of Sakura's bangs and a few of them went over Sasuke and Naruto's clothes. A large crack just narrowly avoided Kakashi, just going over a piece of his hair that went over to the left.

 

Naruto smiled at the picture, Sasuke wasn't giving her usually face when she said 'Tch'. She was looking over at the right with her eyes, not moving her head, but she had a small smile. One that she gave when Naruto looked over at her with not a glare but a look to know if she was alright but she rolled her eyes at his expression.

 

While carefully removing the shards, a small drop of his blood fell over the right side of Sasuke's face. He couldn't stop smiling when he thought about Sasuke's beauty and personality, it was most unique personality he knew out of some girls.

 

He looked over at the clock and his eyes widened, seeing that it was almost the time for the genin to meet up and wait for Kakashi for 2 hours to show up. Naruto screamed and quickly changed out of his sleep clothing into his usual orange getup. He badly wrapped a bandage over his palm and almost crashed out of the house when grabbing his keys.

 

He shut the door and ran through the village to get to the bridge they would meet up at, if they weren't there then they would go to the training field. He could always relax when running, the air would always blow into his face and it would be cool or warm and Naruto wouldn't care, he'd just feel free. Especially now that the air felt more humid.

 

He smiled when he saw Sasuke sitting on the bridge railing but he stopped running when he saw a busty woman in a jacket talking to her.

 

He tried to overhear what the two were talking about but the woman swiftly threw a kunai at the boy, purposefully avoiding him. The jinchuriki wailed in fear before falling flat on his face.

 

"Naruto! Were you spying on us?" Sasuke almost yelled as she went over to the boy's side.

"N-not at all, I'd just arrived here!" Naruto explained.

"You loser! Don't try listening to conversations that don't concern you at all." She yelled with a glare, despite knowing that he would never listen to that demand.

"Y-yeah, u-understood-d...!" He fumbled with his words in fear, he was so terrified of her glare. It was as if she was aiming a mental spear that was visible to his eyes into his soul.

"...just don't it to me, loser." She muttered as she dropped the glare from her face, calming down the blonde.

 

"Anyway Sasuke, if you need to talk, I'll be right here for you," The female Jōnin stated as she shoved her hand in her pockets, "see ya, kid. Take care."

"Bye..." Sasuke responded as Anko jumped away. She looked back at Naruto, "sorry about yelling at you, I woke up with a rough start."

"Thanks alright! I survived, didn't I?" Naruto explained as he gave his signature hand sign, making Sasuke give a small chuckle that started with a 'Tch'. Her eyes then travelled to bandages.

"What happened to your hand?" She grew concerned as she gently took hold of it.

"Nothing, I just cut my hand. That's all."

"On what? A shuriken?" She smirked.

 

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!" The voice their pink haired comrade filled their ears. They turned around and saw Sakura running over to them but something seemed off about her... Their eyes widened (technically Naruto as it didn't really shock Sasuke) when they saw the difference.

 

"S-Saku-ra." Naruto stuttered as he held up a finger point at Sakura.

"What happened to your hair?" Sasuke finished for him. The bangs that were usually over Sakura's cheeks were shorter, they still showed her broad forehead but they now displayed the new addition of the deep cut on her cheek that was sure to leave a scar that wouldn't go away for who knows how long. It was the back of her hair that was shortest, it was a short and spunky pixie cut that Sakura had now... It looked a bit cute on her.

"Oh, nothing! I just decided to fix my hair a bit more." Sakura blushed as she brushed her left hand over the back of her hair. Sasuke looked at her wrist and saw a red fluffy bracelet.

"Is that hair?" Sasuke pointed out.

"N-No!!! I-I just saw it when I went out yesterday and I bought it! Because it looks cute!" Sakura retorted.

"...It suits you." Sasuke complimented.

"Y-yeah, it matches your clothes!" Naruto included.

"Oh right! I almost forgot," Sakura said with bright eyes and pulled out a bag and held it out for the Raven, "Happy Birthday, Sasuke!"

 

" _What_?" Sasuke asked with wide eyes.

" _It's your birthday_?!" Naruto cried out aloud at the same time Sasuke spoke up.

 

"Well, I memorised that your birthday was today so I bought this for you yesterday. I might be best for you to open it at home," Sakura informed happily, "well, it's technically a bag but it still counts."

"You memorised my birthday?" Sasuke questioned, it was July 23rd already?

"Hahaha(!) No, I didn't!" Sakura lied terribly but Sasuke wasn't too bothered by it.

"I forgot about my birthday," Sasuke said as she took the bag.

"how could you forget, Sasuke?" Naruto asked while searching his pockets for something that could be considered a present.

"I guess I just stopped celebrating it." Her comrades looked at her with sadness in their eyes.

"Maybe, we could celebrate it today." Sakura suggested while putting an arm over Sasuke's shoulder.

"..."

"Yeah Sasuke, you'll have a good time." Naruto filled in.

"Don't we have to train?"

"After training?"

"...sure, if we have time."

"And I'll bring a fri-"

 

"Hey guys," Kakashi spoke as he walked over to the kids, "I had gotten side tracked at the store picking up a gift." 

"THAT'S-" The pinkette and blonde paused their accusation, "that's pretty believable..."

"Happy birthday, Sasuke," Kakashi said as he ruffled the girl's black hair, smiling behind his mask. He took a closer look at Sasuke and his eye narrowed when he saw a purple bruise on her neck, "...well guys, since you're all in the final exam, we need to figure out how to train each of you individually."

 

Kakashi turned over to Naruto and Sakura and beckoned them to come closer, not wanting to confuse Sasuke by staring at her bruise any longer and deciding to question her later.

 

* * *

  

"Well, it seems like Orochimaru is planning an attack on Konoha," A voice coming from a hologram of a man with purple circles was heard as he communicated with his group "and apparently, he has already chosen a new vessel who resides in that village."

"Quite convenient." A male Uchiha responded.

"Itachi, didn't you come from that village?" A blue skinned man-shark... Thing asked his partner but only received silence as a response.

"If Orochimaru is going to attack the village, we may have to let him proceed with the plan. That way we can take our revenge against him _and_ the nine tails jinchuriki with ease." The leader suggested, gaining a couple murmurs of agreement.

 

"If I may suggest, leader," a feminine voice spoke up, "may I be the one to interrogate Orochimaru before we kill him and take the ring back, hm?"

"Why do you want to be the one to do this, Deidara?" Pein questioned.

"Don't tell me you forgot that everyone in the Akatsuki has their own personal goal, hm?" The blonde joked, instantly regretting it when the rinnegan user glared at her, "what I mean is that learning about what this snake was doing gave me certain clues to my goal. Once he tells us everything, or at least give me an idea to where they are, we can kill him how ever we want."

"..." The leader remained quiet as he shut his eyes in thought. " _If_ we do manage to capture him, then you may interrogate him using your most painful methods." Pein decided carefully, analysing his group members' movement. Deidara gave a smirk behind the collar that covered her mouth, the three men next to her looked from her to their leader until Itachi's partner spoke up.

 

"I must say, Deidara, you may need assistance detaining Orochimaru. Samehada has been craving a certain taste for snake." The man smiled with what looked like an evil grin but Itachi knew very well that it was his partner's infamous cheese eating smile.

"Deidara, if you let this meeting finish then I'll be able to start making new puppets sooner than later. You know I don't like to be kept waiting." A man inside of a puppet lectured, clearly irritated with the conversation about his former partner.

"Yeah, yeah, alright."

"What I'm going to say is that we need to stay alert of Orochimaru and attempt to capture him when he's at his weakest. Meeting adured."

 

The holograms disappeared and Itachi woke up back in his own body besides Kisame.

 

"Well then, we should get going if we don't want to get caught in the rain, Itachi. I can already sense the air getting more humid." Kisame said.

 

Itachi looked up at the skies and saw the clouds getting darker. He hadn't forgotten what day it was, in fact it was burned into his brain since Sasuke was the most precious person in his entire family.

 

He cared about her so much but he couldn't face her now. All he could do was send her a message that she may not ever receive.

 

"Happy birthday, little sister."

 

And back in the village, Sasuke sneezed. She whacked away a worried Naruto when she thought about who was talking about her but the idea that it was her own brother never crossed her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that you've read, you may be aware that I used 'she/her' pronouns for Deidara. If this is a female Sasuke fanfic, then there's bound to be another originally male character who's a girl (otherwise the numbers wouldn't be even).
> 
> The thing is that it's going to be a major point in the fanfic.
> 
> Anyway, please give your comments and requests that I could involve in my fanfic.


	11. Preparations and Interferences

"...if you're going to be facing that girl again, you'll need to learn how to break out of her genjutsu," Kakashi spoke to Sakura, "you can learn from a genjutsu master like Kurenai, or at least someone with great chakra control."

"Right." Sakura said with a smile, she remembered what Toshiaki had told her about talking to Naomi.

 

"What about me, sensei? Are you going to train me?" Naruto jumped around like an estatic dog.

"I may get involved to help you out but I had already found someone who's much better at training than I am." The silver haired jōnin tried to reason with the young boy but flinched away when he yelled in disappointment.

"Oh come on, Kakashi-Sensei! Why won't you train me yourself?!"

"Because you're not going up against a ninja who can use sand as his weapon."

"Not yet anyway!"

"You're facing a member of the Hyūga Clan with one of the strongest Byakugan, you need to learn how to keep him from hitting any of your chakra points if you want to summon any clones. Sasuke's going up against Gaara and she'll need a powerful ninjutsu to protect against the Gaara's sand."

 

Sasuke watched Kakashi with a close eye in case she would lose any part of the information but she was unusually more cautious about her surroundings.

 

"So who will train me?" The raven asked.

"Yours truly." Kakashi smiled (blinked?)

"Favouritism much?" Sakura remarked while crossing her arms and Naruto gave a firm nod.

"Don't be like that, guys. Like I said, I will come and help you out."

"Yeah right(!)" Naruto frowned, turning his body halfway away from the group

"...tell you what? How about I teach you one more technique that you could use in your fights?" Kakashi suggested after giving a sigh, immediately getting the pinkette and blonde to brighten up.

"Alright!" They cried in unison while Sasuke stayed silent.

 

She felt her teacher's eye on her, directly looking at her collar bone. It was momentarily, but Sasuke caught sight of the small glance before looking at whatever could be on her neck... She couldn't see it.

 

"Stand up, kids," the teacher instructed, his pupils did so and he immediately pulled out a scroll, "I noticed how the girl of Gai's squad had some scrolls on her, they were obviously for summoning weapons and such. I believe you guys could use this to your advantage in the final exam."

"Really?!" Naruto asked in disbelief, his eyes widened above his grin.

"So that's what they were for..." Sakura told herself as Kakashi took out three empty scrolls.

"You can use your chakra to both seal and summon a weapon, in all honesty this is an easy process but the rule of using scrolls to summon your weapon is that the bigger your weapon, the more chakra you need to use to summon it." The teacher lectured.

"But what about multiple weapons, Kakashi-Sensei?" Asked Sakura with a raised hand.

"The same applies to that too," Kakashi's gaze travelled over his students, stopping when reaching Sasuke, "a continuous amount of training with this will help the use of your chakra decrease and reserve more for any fight you may find yourself in."

 

Sasuke could understand the idea of what he meant and pulled out a kunai and a shuriken, placing them besides her as she knelt down in front of the unfolded scroll. She placed the shuriken on the paper and patiently waited for her teammates to follow her lead.

 

As Kakashi instructed, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto used their chakra to make the small weapon evaporate into smoke. The jōnin took note of how the kids' chakra was affected: Naruto had used too much but made the shuriken go away in 15 seconds; Sasuke had used an average amount but succeeded in 7 seconds; Sakura used her incredible chakra control to use as minimal chakra as possible and made her shuriken disappear almost instantly. The middle child had a look of disappointment on her face, Sasuke blamed it on her injured arm rather than accept the fact that she was not good at something first time.

 

"I see... Can you try with two kunai?" Kakashi asked to test them. Sakura's pleased grin only got bigger when the two kunai did the exact action of the shuriken while Naruto struggled to make the weapons poof into smoke and Sasuke getting them in almost double the amount of time that she did with her shuriken. "Don't be too depressed, you two. It's normal to not get it right first time, you're bound to be used to it."

 

Naruto gave a small nod before looking both Sakura and Sasuke to get a hint on what they do to be so skilled.

 

The heat of the summer sun was a bit too strong for the four members of the team, the occasional clouds and cold breeze gave them mercy by blocking out the light for just 30 seconds and cooling them down by blowing their hair into their faces before it went back to the warm torture. A glance to the sky had Sasuke and Kakashi aware that it would be raining soon.

 

Three small tests that involved some large weapons had the genin were almost drained of their chakra... Well, mostly Naruto. As Kakashi gave refreshments for the kids, he told them, "this is only your first time doing this, but I'll inform your teachers about this and when you're done training for the day, you can practice it in your free time."

 

"We'll definitely become chunin with techniques like this!"

"Thank you, Kakashi-Sensei!"

"..."

"I'll take you two to your teachers while you, Sasuke, rest your arm." Kakashi informed as he put his hands on the others' back and gently pushed then forward. He expected Sasuke to answer back negatively.

"But I've been wearing this counterforce brace since yesterday. It's bound to be better by today."

"Toshiaki specifically said to wear it for two days before going to him tomorrow. I'll come back to you after I do this for Naruto and Sakura. You don't have to stay here while you wait so you can go anywhere around the village, just don't go training. Consider it a day off." The girl scowled at the response she received.

"You're not my father." She notified with a mild anger.

 

Kakashi gave a sigh before saying 'see ya later,' and leaving her in the field. He was slightly worried about leaving Sasuke alone when he didn't know anything about that bruise on her neck but he wasn't an idiot, Kakashi knew what happens in intimate situations and Sasuke was mosylt definitely in such a situation but she's still too naïve when it comes to knowledge about this topic.

 

'Is Orochimaru making his move already? Or was she already forced to do something that cruel?' Kakashi thought as he walked behind the two genin, 'For fuck's sake, she's just turned...13...' His eye widened at the realisation, 'shit.'

 

* * *

 

The summer breeze brushed through Sasuke's hair as she walked down the lane through the village with one of her hands in her pocket while the other held on the handle of the plastic bag given to her by Sakura.

 

The sound of the children playing around with their friends both calmed and annoyed her. It was irritating because they were being loud and unaware of who they might bump into but it was calming since they were going about their day as the time passed by, not including Sasuke in any of it. That was something that she enjoyed.

 

She looked at the stores and thought of what to buy since it was her birthday. Normally, she'd treat herself to a nice weapon that seemed to cause plenty of damage to an enemy when she would be on a mission but she already had enough weapons. Her eyelashes gave a small flutter when she remembered Naruto's kunai.

 

Without even thinking of it, Sasuke pulled the kunai out of her holster, its ribbon elegantly following in tow. Through the reflection of the metal, she could almost see Naruto smiling, being his normal goofy-self, running towards her and that brought a smile to Sasuke's face, along with the faintest shade of rose to her cheeks. But she didn't feel like she was in such a good mood to be smiling, not with how vague Anko's explanation was over about why she was in her room.

 

The kunai was then placed back where it was and Sasuke continued her walk through the village. She saw more stores that offered food, clothes and different types of merchandise until she felt a small shift in chakra right behind her.

 

Her eyes darted around to the left and right but she didn't turn around. She just saw the usual villagers walking around but that wasn't enough to convince Sasuke that she wasn't being followed. She continued her walk while listening to every sound carefully, she could even hear the faintest meowing of a cat on one of the windows.

 

Then she turned on her heels and went down a corner, walking over the stone path. Her eyes then narrowed as she swiftly turned around and grabbed a boy's sleeve, pulled him closer and used her leg to step forward and kicked the kid off his feet. His back gave a small crack as it made contact with the ground and the other four boys behind him took a step back to avoid Sasuke's skills.

 

She straightened her posture and hardened her face, these guys didn't own the chakra that was following her but she recognised their ugly faces. Three of them were kids from her class that didn't pass the genin exam with their would've been teachers and two of them were from Itachi's class who were still genin. Sasuke called them out, "what do you want?"

"Hello to you too, Sasuke(!) We're good, what about you?" The light brunette kid sarcastically replied with a scowl. Sasuke couldn't be bothered to remember his name so she called him a name that annoyed him, 'Worm'. She rolled her eyes in silence.

"What? You got nothing to say, brat?" The second kid called out, the top of his head being covered by a green cloth that so out of date, it made Sasuke proudly call him 'Obsolete." She could still see the look on his face when he had searched a book to find the meaning of that word and it never failed to bring a smile to her face.

"He never says anything, or should we say 'she'? I don't know what to call him anymore so you'll just be a''girl-boy'." The third called out, intentionally trying to grasp a reaction from the girl but achieved nothing. This guy was the biggest bully of the school who shamelessly harassed the kids who were loners or unique, Sasuke could only dub him as 'The Bully'.

"The little wretch should start saying something," the older boy stated as he helped up his friend. Sasuke kept a straight face before responding to see a reaction for her own amusement. If it had the opposite effect, she could just beat them up, good thing she had reserved some of her chakra.

"Fuck off, bastards." She called out, almost sneering at their faces of anger. One of the older boys couldn't keep his cool and ran out with his clenched fist in front of him as an attempt to hit her but Sasuke just moved her head as she took a step forward and thrusted her elbow into his stomach.

 

He gave a vicious cough, droplets of spit falling onto the cheek of the unphased Uchiha, before falling onto the first boy that tried to attack her. Sasuke pulled back her arm, wiped off the spit before flinching at the pain, groaning when she saw that she had used her right arm that bore the brace. Quickly, she hid her temporary weakness away from the boys but it was futile, they had managed to notice the small grimace of pain on the girl's face. But it was the first boy that was on the ground that noticed it and he then saw the counterforce brace.

 

"Oh, would you look at that? Uchiha's got a busted arm." He told his companions, the three kids helped him to his feet while leaving the heaving one that Sasuke had elbowed besides the wall. The girl threw the plastic bag to the side to keep it from most of the commotion.

"Let's get her!" Obsolete called as he cracked his knuckles before running over to the girl with Worm behind him.

 

Sasuke was prepared for this and shifted the position of her feet to give a kick into Obsolete's stomach and knocking him into Worm.

 

"You guys didn't pass the genin exam, what makes you think you can beat me?" She scoffed as she watched the Bully she hated with a passion start power walking over to her. Sasuke rolled her eyes before grabbing him by his neck with both of her hands and shoving her right knee into his stomach not once, but twice. The Bully recoiled to clutch his now bruised abdomen but he didn't expect Sasuke to aim her left knee into his face.

 

The Bully was thrown away, knocked out with one missing tooth, and his younger peers began to step further away from Sasuke until they were nowhere in Sasuke's sight.

 

"You wimps!" Itachi's classmate called out while cracking his knuckles, "screw them, let's see if you're as skilled as Itachi." The Uchiha girl gave a sharp glare at him as he began to charge once again.

 

Sasuke grabbed his fist with her right hand, it began to shake with the pressure of someone's fist trying to get out of the trap and now her brace was aching. He swung his other fist but Sasuke caught that too.

 

"I... Am not my brother..." She hissed before using her leg to trip him onto his back by pulling out his foot. The guy could have gotten up but Sasuke had shoved her foot into his nutsack so hard that he won't be having any children in the future. "Don't forget it."

 

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke felt at ease. She needed to throw her emotions at something to make her feel better and it was only coincidence that these kids showed up to be a target for her. Her hand went over to her arm that wore the brace, occasionally rubbing it as she grabbed her bag and began to walk over to where she entered the alleyway, she felt another shift in chakra of one of the boys behind her and it began to get closer to her.

 

She turned around and saw how the guy she had elbowed was right on her trail, using his chakra to give him more speed. Sasuke couldn't react quickly with a physical attack and could only move to a defence but she didn't have to worry about using a defensive block.

 

A mop of silky brown hair swung around as a boy threw himself in front of Sasuke, swinging his arm and hitting the guy's face with his forearm and knocked him straight to the ground. The Uchiha's eyes widened as she watched her opponent getting thrown to the concrete floor, relaxing when she looked at his now knocked out form before looking at her possible ally.

 

"Agh..." She breathed as she clutched her arm when the occasional aches turned into a sharp bolt of pain.

"Are you alright?" The boy had asked her as he turned his head to face her, revealing himself to be the same Hyūga boy that almost killed Hinata but he had a gentle light that glistened over his carved features.

"Neji?..." Was all Sasuke could mutter as she looked at him. Her mind then travelled to an unsure thought that could be confirmed if she checked his chakra. Her eyes closed slowly as she moulded her chakra, Neji began to step close to her and stopped when her eyes widened in anger, "what the heck were you doing stalking me?!"

"..." Sasuke was tempted to raise her fists at the Hyūga but attacking a member of an elite clan would end badly for her.

"If you're looking for a fight, I will-"

"Please, don't annoy me with that nonsense." He interrupted with a snooty voice. Sasuke gritted her teeth and counted from one to ten to calm herself down.

"...look, I just want to know why you were following me."

"..." Neji's eyes turned to the left momentarily before looking back at the Uchiha, "...I was curious about your abilities, you used no ninjutsu when fighting that Sound Ninja and only used taijutsu, it was very impressive." Sasuke blinked, she was clearly puzzled at the moment but the silence Neji was giving her made her stutter a response.

"...Thanks," she couldn't stop there, "...your fight was... Good enough..." Sasuke mentally face palmed at her words when she saw him raise an eyebrow, "I mean you came out practically unscathed..." The mention of the said incident made the noirette think back to her previous thought about Itachi.

"You're not wrong on that part. I saw what happened to your arm," he stated as he looked at her right arm, Sasuke hid her limb behind her back, "it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. May I see?"

"...maybe?..." It came out more as a question than a proper response. Neji didn't listen to her and decided to take her hand, looking at the black coloured brace with stern eyes, "uhh..."

"I believe you were informed to not do vigorous activity when you have a sprained tendon." He spoke, only taking a mere look at the arm without feeling the muscle. Sasuke was impressed.

"...How could you tell?" She asked as she looked down at her arm.

"As a user of the many techniques belong to the Hyūga, one will end up with sprained tendons from overusing their limbs," Neji looked back at the boys behind him and back at the Uchiha, "you're lucky that it wasn't a severe sprain otherwise you wouldn't have had enough time to train for your fight," Sasuke almost rolled her eyes at the statement, she knew she was in deep shit but she didn't want everyone repeating it to her, "I wanted to see what your skills were with other techniques when using your chakra but your taijutsu is very advanced, something I would expect from an Uchiha but I haven't seen someone with skills so... exquisite."

 

Sasuke felt her entire face flush a deep red. The meaning of the word 'exquisite' was extremely beautiful and excellent. It felt strange... For some reason because normally she'd get compliments from girls telling her how 'awesome' she was and occasionally from Naruto and Kakashi when she impressed them but this compliment struck her somewhere in her chest, making her incredibly uncomfortable. 

 

"...what is that supposed to mean?..." She mumbled, extremely flustered as her heart began pounding and causing her blood to uncontrollably run throughout her body. But her mind kept running through what the boy meant as she was very confused as well.

"It means your very talented." Neji quickly responded with a tone that almost judged her.

"...thank you..." She whispered, almost smiling in return when the corners of his lips tilted upwards. There was a trace of the arrogant prick that she had met before meeting the true Neji that kept her from trusting him entirely, despite having him save her from straining her arm more than it already was.

 

"SASUKE!" The familiar cry of the titular character of his own anime interrupted the teenagers' moment with each other, Sasuke turned her head around in rage like any girl when they're interrupted from having a moment alone with their crush at the sight of Naruto jumping down in front of her and Neji, "are you alright? I saw these guys knocked out and this asshole in front of you so I came down here as soon as possi...' Naruto stopped moving when he suddenly noticed how Neji and Sasuke held eachother's hand, "...ble... What's up with you guys?!"

"These boys came and started some conflict with your teammate, she fought well until she was at a disadvantage and one of them tried to attack her. I stepped in to keep that from happening." Neji stated when he noticed Sasuke's enraged expression that was showing that she could blow up like a thousand volcanoes.

"She doesn't need any help now so you can stop holding her hand!" 

 

Sasuke's eyes travelled down and looked at the hand that held her own. She noticed how his skin colour almost matched hers, it felt aesthetically pleasing to her. She stopped feeling so satisfied when he pulled his hand away without looking at her, increasing her frustration.

 

Neji looked back at Sasuke's face and sighed, "I'm glad we managed to have a proper chat with each other, Sasuke Uchiha, even if it didn't last as much as I expected. I hope your arm is better for when we fight at the Final Exams," he began to walk over to the open street with people before stopping, "I think it's best for you to get out of the crime scene, I'm quite certain they'll want to give use payment if they are able to remember how they got so beat up."

"I will, Neji Hyūga." She nodded with a pleased expression as he turned a corner and fell out of her sight. Once Neji was gone, Naruto made a sound that Sasuke couldn't tell if it was a whine or one of his attempts of a yell. The Uchiha looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at the Uzumaki.

 

"Do you really think I'm not gonna beat that guy?!" Naruto shrieked as he was almost in her face but a small smack, that was in between hard and light, pushed him off his teammate.

" _Don't_ get all up in my face, dunce!" Sasuke retorted, "And what the _fuck_ are you talking about?!"

"You heard him," Naruto pointed a finger at the entrance of the alleyway they were in, "he said ' _when_ you fight in the final exams'. He's my opponent! I'm going to beat him so I can fight you, Sasuke!"

"Are you kidding me?" The bland question snapped Naruto out of his daily phase of being an idiot to see Sasuke's intimidating gaze, "that's what you wanted me for?"

"Eh- No..." Sasuke almost awakened her Sharingan in anger, Naruto had no right to be invading her personal space just so he could tell her that. To avoid becoming part of the blonde idiot's scene, the noirette begun walking away like a mature person. Some things that dunce did would just end up being a waste of her time, "Sasuke, wait! I actually do a reason," The Uchiha looked back and raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms, "I wanted to give you your birthday gift. I got this for you because when I saw it, it reminded me of what you wanted," Naruto gave a smile as he sat in a lotus position while scuffling to get the gift out of his pocket. Sasuke went back and bent over so that she was standing on bent knees, the blonde looked back at her once he pulled out his gift. 

 

Sasuke felt her breath quicken at the sight of a coupon for Ichiraku and a paper bomb, it was the bomb that bothered her... It brought back memories of Sakura's near demise, how she and Naruto had gotten captured and the rare depressed side of her blonde that she would never want to see again. She had a perfect view of the two pieces of paper so she didn't take them; steadily, she returned to an upright position and kept her frown plastered on her face.

"That's great, Naruto, but... I don't want them." Her voice broke Naruto out of his hopeful mood and he reacted with a loud complaint.

"Wha... Why?!" Any normal person would've flinched at Naruto's sudden yell but Sasuke was far from what people would consider normal. She couldn't be phased so easily.

"I just don't want them." 

"Why though?! Do you know how hard it was and how long it took me to get this paper bomb off Kakashi?! And this is a coupon that I manage to get on a rare occasion. You owe me for that!" Once Naruto yelled out that sentence, Sasuke raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"And why exactly would I owe you?" She asked in a scary tone that a mother would take, the tone that sounded intentionally ignorant, sweet but venomous all at once. She got it from her mother. Too bad Naruto was immune to the tone since he never had a mother figure in his life.

"You asked for a paper bomb on the day your gender was revealed when I tried to give you a flower!" The noirette's eyes widened a bit after that statement. How could she forget her moment with Naruto after he stood in front of her when a random senile woman went up to her and 'asked' for proof.

"...oh... I see," she muttered nonchalantly, Naruto gave a firm nod as he kept his hand open, showing how he was waiting for Sasuke to take her gifts. Sasuke couldn't look at the bomb any longer and reached to take the coupon, "I'll... Just take the coupon."

"And the bomb?"

"..." Having no answer, Sasuke stayed silent and looked to the side in guilt.

"Come on, Sasuke. Why won't you take it?" She should've kept it in but Naruto shouldn't be kept in the dark about her trauma.

"I don't want to be reminded about that day in the Forest of Death," Whispered the Uchiha, avoiding a gaze with her blonde.

"What was that?" Naruto asked with a hand cupped over his ear. She heard the slam of a door from the street, making her snap her head to face the crowd of people that didn't include her. It was almost as loud as being in that explosion.

 

Her eyes nearly shrunk to the size of pin points when she tried looking back to Naruto but was distracted by the red-brown bricks that reminded her of the burnt wood, she could feel her breath getting faster and colder, sweat began to drizzle down her forehead to her nose - no, it was rain.

"I have to go." She mumbled loudly for him to hear before she walked away from him and amalgamated into the crowd, intentionally getting lost and taken away from him.

 

"Wait a minute, Sasuke come back!" Naruto cried out before letting his head fall down in disappointment.

"Is that really your attempt to try and go out with a girl?" The snooty voice of Ebisu filled his ears and Naruto shrieked as he turned around to see the guy he was running from right behind him.

"Oh man!" The blonde proclaimed before running off again.

 

* * *

 

 

The rain began to spit more of its rain drops onto the village harder and harder, Sasuke was finding it a bit hard to navigate in the direction to her house with all the people blocking her way. There must've been a sale on a product that was mass produced because there was _a lot_  of people and Sasuke downright hated it.

 

She shoved her way past an old lady and she barged through a teenaged couple far older than her, possibly late teens, and she had shifted so many times to get out of the way of other people.

 

The girl wasn't expecting a dog to bark at her when she accidentally stepped on its tail. The sudden bark made her jump back as she looked down at a big dog that was baring its teeth.

 

"No! No barking!" The owner scolded as she reacted quickly and gently grabbed her mascot by the scruff to get him to stop growling before looking to the girl with a smile that said a thousand apologies, "I'm sorry, he's sensitive when it comes to his tail and backside."

"It's alright, ma'am. Sorry for stepping on his tail." Sasuke nodded her head to finish her apology and continued with her walk back home, completely unaware that she had ran into Kiba's older sister Hana Inuzuka, a friend of her older brother.

 

To her relief, Sasuke got out of the crowd of people and felt that the rain had gotten stronger, which was probably the reason why the crowd of people began to disperse.

 

Sasuke pulled out the key to her front door to be prepared to open it. Her rented house was just a block away but she wasn't too bothered by the small delay and she was there in no time.

 

In anticipation, Sasuke opened and closed her door in almost an instant once she was inside. Warmth engulfed her body and she gave a few shivers as she took of her shoes and walked over into her bathroom and found a warm towel that she kept over a radiator. As she rubbed the fabric over her wet hair, a scent brushed against her nostrils.

 

It was a familiar smell, a smell that belonged to something that was cooking. The addicting aroma of food being grilled made Sasuke dash over to her kitchen, expecting to see her mother in there, alive and well, ready to say 'welcome home, Sasuke.'

 

She wasn't there... much to Sasuke's dismay.

 

The androgynous girl pulled a deep frown before brushing it off and looking at what was cooking. Two large pieces of mackerel having its fatty juices pushed out to leave a healthier part of a meal. She looked over to the side and saw a chopping board with an avocado and two large tomatoes. She looked over at the hob and saw a pan of string beans in water being heated to four. Sasuke's not much of a chef, nor is she the type to cook something for herself before training some more but she knew someone was in her house.

 

"Welcome home, Sasuke." A voice said, raising Sasuke's hopes that it was a member of her family. She looked behind her and saw the familiar figure of Kakashi. It wasn't her parents but Kakashi was better than nothing.

"Oh Kakashi, I didn't realise you were in my-" Sasuke paused her sentence the moment she reached to brush a bit of hair out of face and remembered Kakashi doesn't live with her, "why are you in my house?"

"It was raining and I didn't want to get wet, your house was the closest building. And I cooked some food for you to eat."

"So you broke into my house?"

"...yeah, I guess." Sasuke rolled her eyes and continued rubbing her towel over her hair as she walked past Kakashi to the direction of her room.

"Thanks anyway," She said, dropping her plastic bag on the couch. Reaching the doorway to her room, Sasuke saw on her bed some clothes for her to change into. Did Kakashi just go through her stuff? "You got cut while putting my clothes out, didn't you?"

"Hey, who keeps kunai inside of a drawer full of clothes?" The jōnin snarked back at the girl.

 

Sasuke shook her head and shut her door to give herself privacy while she got changed into a solid mint green shirt with sleeves that reached her elbows and navy black trousers up to her ankles.

 

She walked out and saw Kakashi putting out a plate for the food on the table that stood behind her couch.

"You want some help with the salad?" She asked.

"Sure, I didn't even start anyway because I don't know how you like your tomatoes chopped." 

"Big slices," she stated once she got a hold of the knife and started cutting the washed tomato from the head. She would make them smaller by dicing them but that would mean it would be gone a lot sooner. Only twelve large slices of tomatoes, "take notes."

 

She then took the avocado and pushed the knife through the skin and quickly circled it around, giving her an easy way to separate two sides of an avocado. She put the slice that had the seed sticking out to a side and focused on peeling and dicing the other. Kakashi watched as his pupil's skills with a knife entranced him, he took note that Sasuke had the skill to be a swordswoman and that he would pray for whoever faces this Uchiha's wrath when she has a kunai, or knife or anything sharp in general.

 

Once the red and green slices were placed into two bowls, Sasuke added a bit of salt to them before placing them on the table. Kakashi brought the grilled mackerel and string beans and placed them on to the single plate. Sasuke raised her eyebrow as he silently told her to come over besides him as he pulled a seat for her.

 

"Aren't you going to eat?" She asked in concern. Kakashi gratefully shook his head with a close eye.

"Nah. I just cooked for you because I thought you couldn't do it." He responded as he pushed the chair back in when the noirette sat down.

"You grill two pieces of mackerel and you don't want to eat?" She stated, almost smirking as he sat down in front of her.

"I'm sure you also get hungry in the middle of the night."

"No, I don't." She informed as she used chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish and place it in her mouth.

"I came to make sure you were alright." As he said that, Sasuke could feel his chakra shifting from optimistic to worried.

"Is something going on?" She asked while focusing her gaze directly on him.

"Sasuke," Kakashi began, already getting the girl worried, "you haven't been doing any vicious exercise, have you?"

"No..." She answered in confusion.

"You only hang out with boys like me and Naruto?"

"Yeah..." Sasuke's answer reminded her of the blonde's gift, she quickly pulled it out of her pocket, "oh right, he gave me this coupon for a gift," Kakashi looked at it a bit closer and read what it said before Sasuke continued, "as you can see it says its for a free meal for two people for a whole month."

"Naruto's already trying to ask you out... Good job, Naruto," Kakashi breathed through his mask before looking back up at Sasuke, "this is Naruto's unique way of asking you out on a date."

"What? You mean like romantically?" 

"In a way, yes." Sasuke looked to the side in thought and gave a small nod once she made a decision, smiling at the thought that still lingered in her mind.

"And he tried to give me a paper bomb that he took from you." She said sneakily.

"Oh I know he took one from me, I could see it happening while I was talking to Naomi and Kurenai. Speaking of which, what did Sakura give you for your present?"

"I didn't check," Sasuke got up, went over to the couch and opened the plastic bag. 

"Well, what is it?"

"It looks like... A small sleeveless shirt." The confused tone of Sasuke's words rubbed itself on the silver haired man like fresh granite on paper. The girl pulled out what looked like a sports bra, only tighter.

"Hmm... Why don't you try it on?" He suggested. Sasuke couldn't help but agree, especially since it was her size. She went back into her room while Kakashi placed himself on her couch to wait. In no time, she came out wearing the bra. This was the first time in five years where she showed what she was wearing to another person and she was filled with embarassment. Kakashi smiled once he realised what Sakura gave her friend, "it's a binder."

"What? This thing?"

"Yeah, it's almost like those bandages you wear but better."

 

Sasuke could feel the tightness on her chest but once she looked down, she saw how flat her chest was. Much flatter than when she wore those stupid bandages. Her respect for Sakura had grown.

 

"I hope you know about the bruise on your collar bone," Kakashi bluntly informed. Sasuke immediately tried looking down at her chest and shoulder unfortunately, she couldn't spot a small stain on her skin, "do you want to look in the mirror?" Sasuke hastily gave a nod as she travelled over to her bathroom once again and looked in the mirror.

 

And there it was. A purple bruise that was tattooed on her neck tinged with a pink hue. Despite having an innocent mind when it came to shit like this, Sasuke wasn't incorrect when she concluded that this bruise came from physical contact.

 

"How'd you get that?" She heard Kakashi ask as he crept into the room. Sasuke couldn't come up with a conclusion for that. She could say that she got it from her fight earlier but that would mean spending an extra day resting her arm. But the last fight she had was yesterday and she never achieved any injury to her neck.

All she could say was, "I don't know."

 

* * *

 

Sakura almost slammed her house door shut as she came back soaking wet. She gave a smile at the news she wanted to give her parents and Karin, whom she had offered her to stay at her place while she stayed in Konoha.

"I'm home!" She called out excitingly.

"Careful, Sakura!" Her mother scolded furiously as she came out the kitchen to face her pink haired daughter, "you're going to break the door if you keep slamming it like that!"

 "Ugh! Fine mom!" The pinkette retorted as she took off her shoes and placed them besides the door. She quickly rushed up and went to her room, "Karin, guess what! You won't believe what I'm going to be learning for my final exam!" She opened her door in glee, "I'm- Karin?" There the redhead was, sitting on Sakura's bed as she packed her stuff in her satchel, "what are you doing?" Karin looked up at her friend.

"Sakura, I have to go back to my village." She informed sadly.

"What? But... But-" 

"I'm sorry but your mother gave me a letter that says I need to go back," Karin stood up and walked closer to Sakura, "it was an urgent envelope and I'm really needed." Sakura's head dropped down as her hand drifted over to her scarred bicep.

"A-are you sure you can't stay a bit longer?" She asked politely while lifting her head. She could definitely see how short Karin was compared to her.

"I'm afraid I can't, it's because of my chakra."

"Oh... Right..." The pinkette complained sadly, sitting down on her bed and placing her head in her hands.

"...yeah, I do wish that I was never born with this kind of chakra." Karin went back to Sakura's bed and sat down besides her.

"Why do you just put up with it?" Sakura looked back up at her friend and looked at every detail of her face: beautiful red hair with a messy cut; bright eyes that held a thousand emotions; lips that would form one of the prettiest smiles and cheeks that would turn rosy pink when flustered, "you can just run away from the village when you arrive and-"

"Sakura. You know I can't." Karin informed as kindly as possible, she placed a hand on the pinkette's shoulder.

"But-"

 

"Sakura!" The two young girls looked over at Sakura's mother, who had a stern look on her face as she leant against the doorway, "Karin doesn't live in Konoha, I allowed her to stay as a guest but she doesn't live with us. She has her own village to help, she can stay with us again if the Chunin Exams take place here again."

"She's right, we still have the second exam for this year and we'll still be in touch while we wait." As Karin gave a smile, Sakura sighed and gave up. She walked over to her desk and picked up one of two pictures they took from yesterday. Sakura paid for the pictures to be taken and printed, to which Karin replied by saying she'll pay her back.

 

The picture had Sakura and Karin with their hair cut and turned into a pink bracelet for Karin and a red bracelet for Sakura, holding eachother in a hug.

 

"You girls had become closer in three days than the five years Sakura had with Ino but I honestly don't understand why you would cut your hair for a bracelet." The blonde woman stated as she left the girls alone with each other.

 

Sakura turned back to Karin and gently gave her the picture. The redhead took the piece of paper and put it in a tight pocket of the satchel to keep it safe. She was given other things from the previous night with Sakura, like a cute stuffed honey badger she had won from a game that was paired with a stuffed tiger and a pretty perfume bottle with magenta coloured liquid. Karin felt like it was too much to receive both the honey badger and tiger so Sakura was forced to keep the stuffed tiger.

 

They were certainly good friends. Karin had told Sakura that she had her special chakra but didn't know what clan it belonged to. She explained how it could heal any wound and why she had so many bite marks on her arms, she could still remember how furious Sakura was at what she was forced to endure.

 

Karin opened the door and the sound of falling water filled the house, Sakura quickly rubbed her eyes to hide her emotions. The redhead turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder, seeing Sakura with her mouth slightly opened and ready to say something but she couldn't help but choke on her words.

 

"Sakura?..." Karin softly spoke, bringing back Sakura's words.

"...Remember Karin, whenever you get the chance, take matters into your own hands and find yourself a proper home. Train to be the best ninja you could be, I promise that I'll always be here for you." Sakura vowed as she held onto Karin's shoulders.

"Thank you Sakura." The girl replied in happiness, this was one of the few times when someone would give a good words of advice.

 

Karin pulled Sakura into a tight hug, which the latter kindly returned, along with a small kiss on the cheek that was percieved as a friendly gesture but it was something more to Sakura. The pinkette was still soaked and cold, but when Karin left it felt a bit more colder than the rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always wondered... Why the fuck is the age of consent in Japan 13 years of age?! It would make sense for the '13 years old' part to be applied to preteens being able to look after themselves like an adult and doing the shopping, e.c.t NOT SEX!
> 
> Anyway, I'm not going to do another chapter that focuses on the training before the final exam. I've kept you waiting long enough and I'm sure you all want to know what happens and who that guy was when he tried to have his way with Sasuke while she was sleeping. The next chapter will (hopefully) come faster than it took for this chapter to be finished.
> 
> And Sasuke's small fight with those boys was inserted to show how she had enemies in the village because of her brother, if Neji hadn't stepped in she would've been severely injured because of her arm. And Sakura's moment with Karin is to develop their relationship with eachother.
> 
> Plz leave a comment~!


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